show styles

28 June 1999
19990627 Week Rotation Today Rotation Week 19990629

Welcome to the Flare Prediction System. This page lists the active regions present on the Sun today, together with their probability of producing C-, M-, or X-class events. Flare probabilities are calculated using NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center data combined over 1969-1976 and 1988-1996 (details of which can be found in Bloomfield et al., 2012, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 747, L41, along with full forecast verification testing). The percentage probabilities are based on the number of flares produced by regions classified using the McIntosh classification scheme (McIntosh, P., 1990, Solar Physics, 125, 251) during cycles 21 and 22. For example, over both time periods there were 377 regions classified Eai. As this class produced 131 M-class events, the mean M-class flare rate is ~131/377 or ~0.347 flares per day. Assuming the number of flares per unit time is governed by Poisson statistics, we can estimate a flaring probability for the following 24-hours using P( one or more flares ) = 1 - exp( -mean ), i.e., P = 1 - exp( -0.347 ) ~ 0.29, or 29% for an Eai class region to produce one or more M-class flares in the next 24-hours.

See Gallagher, P. T., Moon, Y.-J., Wang, H., Solar Physics, 209, 171, (2002),
Wheatland, M. S., 2001, Solar Physics, 203, 87 and Moon et al., 2001, Journal of Geophysical Research-Space Physics, 106(A12) 29951 for further details.

Click here for a description of the various active region classifications from the Royal Observatory of Belgium.

Region Flare Probabilities (%)
Number McIntosh C-class M-class X-class
No Prediction Found

NOTE: Occurrence of '...' indicates that McIntosh class was not observed in the period over which the Poisson flare rate statistics were determined. Values in parantheses/brackets give the NOAA/SWPC forecast probabilities for the occurrence of one or more C-, M-, or X-class flares. When viewed in real-time and before 22:00 UT, NOAA predictions are valid up to 22:00 UT on the current date. When viewed in real-time after 22:00 UT (or when viewing past dates), NOAA predictions are valid up to 22:00 UT on the following date. The most recent data can also be found at NOAA's 3-day Space Weather Predictions page.

Please contact Peter Gallagher if you have any comments or questions regarding this research.



Today's/Yesterday's NOAA Active Regions
NOAA Number
Latest
Position
Hale
Class
McIntosh Class
Sunspot Area
[millionths]
Number of Spots
Recent
Flares
08592 N22W46
(631",326")
α/α Hsx/Hsx 0040/0050 01/01 C3.5(20:55)
/ M1.0(08:34)
08594 N13W27
(419",175")
β/β Dai/Dai 0120/0120 22/20 -
08598 N22W24
(357",318")
βγ/βγ Fki/Fai 0530/0530 65/50 - / C3.4(18:21)
08599 S16W14
(220",-301")
β/β Cao/Eao 0070/0090 16/11 -
08600 N20W91
(887",323")
α/α Axx/Axx 0000/0010 01/01 -
08602 N18E08
(-125",252")
β/β Dko/Dki 0350/0330 25/21 - / C2.3(03:26)
C2.5(02:22)
08603 S15E16
(-252",-285")
β/β Fai/Fai 0360/0300 39/24 -
08604 N14W91
(916",229")
β/β Cao/Cao 0060/0150 02/05 -
08606 N17W20
(310",238")
β/β Dao/Dai 0090/0100 16/13 C2.2(03:36) / -
08607 N23W81
(859",362")
α/β Axx/Cro 0000/0020 01/03 -
08609 N17W10
(157",236")
β/α Bxo/Axx 0000/0000 02/02 -
08610 N12W01
(16",154")
β/β Bxo/Bxo 0010/0010 03/04 -
08611 S25E48
(-637",-425")
β/- Cao/- 0040/- 05/- C6.2(18:59)
C1.9(15:54)
C1.6(12:13)
C2.3(10:18)
C1.3(05:29)
C5.6(03:01)
C4.0(00:29)
/ C2.0(15:16)
08612 S17E07
(-110",-317")
α/- Hsx/- 0030/- 03/- -

Class (HH:MM) -Today
Class (HH:MM) -Yesterday

Events not associated with currently named NOAA regions: C2.2(18:15) C2.7(00:55) C3.2(20:45)

Note: The tabulated data are based on the most recent NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary issued on 28-Jun-1999 00:30 . The greyed out and light-blue entries are values from the previous day. Slashed cells indicate that the active region has no spots. The latest positions of the active regions are given in both heliographic and heliocentric co-ordinates. The region positions are valid on 28-Jun-1999 23:30 .