Friday, April 25, 2014

X Class Solar Flare and Other News

Staff Writer, DB Holmes
Meteorology / Heliosphere
____________________________________



- xray flux: B-Class level baseline
- solar flare count: 3
- biggest flare: X1.3
- biggest solar flare producer: There's only 1 flare today.

CURRENT SUNSPOT GROUPS

- new / incoming spots: 6 groups over the incoming edge 2 of which already crested over but did not yet get an official number. Prob 46 & 47 / 3 Beta spots to crest sometime tommorow
- magnetic classes: Simple / Simple Gamma
- growth rates -

SEISMIC ACTIVITY

- above 4.0 - 22
- above 5.0 - 6
- 6+ - 6.6 Pt.Hardy Canada / Vancouver Island

OTHER NEWS

North Korea has been fighting an outbreak of bird flu since last month, culling tens of thousands of poultry so far. A chicken farm in the capital reported signs of H5N1 virus on March 21 and the virus has now spread to other poultry farms, Xinhua news agency reported citing the KCNA official news agency. "(We) are suffering from extensive economic damage as tens of thousands (of poultry) have either fallen dead or been culled," - Agriculture Ministry. This is on top a huge pig culling last month due to Foot And Mouth Disease found in pigs.

The Ohio Department of Health is investigating more than a dozen suspected cases of measles in the Mt. Vernon area near Columbus, likely caused by unvaccinated travelers returning from the Philippines. The people who have fallen ill with the suspected cases of measles range in age from two years old to 48 years old, according to a department spokeswoman. None of the cases has yet been confirmed, but more information will likely be available tomorrow. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus of the same name. The disease is also called rubeola. Symptoms usually appear in seven to 18 days after exposure, and include fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body.

At least five people have died due to sunstroke in Odisha this summer, an official said on Monday. Two people died in the coastal district of Cuttack, one on March 23 and another on April 14, an official of the state revenue department said. The districts of Boudh, Puri and Sambalpur have reported one death each this month, he said. While three of the dead were over 65 years old, two were aged 45 and 52 respectively, he said. A heat wave has been sweeping across the state for the past several weeks with some places experiencing a maximum temperature of over 40 degrees celsius.

SOLAR WIND

- past 24 hours: steady / slight elevation +60km/s
- current speed / density: 450km/s

PARTICLE DATA

- proton flux: lowest energy elevation
- electron flux: slight elevation

GEOMAGNETIC CONDITIONS

- 24 hour magnetic field history: calm
- Bz Peak: 5nT/-5nT
- current conditions: Calm
- KP Index: 3


Source: Suspicious Observers, Sun and Science News