2003 Halloween solar storms
Composite image showing aurorae over northern Europe, taken by DMSP on October 30, 2003 | |
| Associated solar active region | |
|---|---|
| NOAA region no. | 10486 |
| Largest SXR flares | X40+ |
| G5 "Extreme" geomagnetic storm | |
| G-scale (NOAA/SWPC) | |
| Initial onset | October 2003 |
| Dissipated | November 2003 |
| Highest Kp-index | 9 |
| Highest Ap-index | 204 |
| Lowest Dst | −383 nT |
| Impacts | Electrical faults and wear to various satellites; satellite communications blackouts; localized power outage in Sweden |
Part of solar cycle 23 | |
The Halloween solar storms were a series of solar storms involving solar flares and coronal mass ejections that occurred from mid-October to early November 2003, peaking around October 28–29. This series of storms generated the largest solar flare ever recorded by the GOES system, modeled as strong as X45 (initially estimated at X28 due to saturation of GOES' detectors).