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 23 April 2000
⇐20000422 ⇐Week ⇐Rotation Today Rotation⇒ Week⇒ 20000424⇒

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
08955 S21W84
(877",-329") 		β/β Eso/Eao 0060/0120 07/11 -
08958 N18W91
(898",289") 		β/β Cso/Cso 0050/0040 05/06 -
08962 N24W53
(690",427") 		α/α Hsx/Hsx 0020/0030 01/01 -
08963 N17W58
(767",316") 		β/β Cso/Cro 0030/0040 07/08 - / C3.6(05:51)
C3.0(02:54)
08965 S16W14
(220",-186") 		β/β Cro/Bxo 0010/0010 04/03 -
08966 S14W04
(64",-151") 		β/α Cro/Hax 0010/0040 04/02 -
08967 N22E10
(-152",426") 		β/β Eao/Eao 0220/0160 13/09 C2.1(05:58) / -
08968 S13W26
(405",-142") 		β/β Dao/Dao 0190/0180 09/11 -
08969 N11E20
(-318",253") 		β/α Cso/Hrx 0040/0020 03/02 -
08970 S15E42
(-612",-187") 		β/β Eki/Eko 1010/0630 15/07 C2.7(13:44)
/ C1.9(18:47)
C2.6(18:02)
08971 N17E40
(-582",334") 		βγ/β Fko/Eko 0600/0400 12/03 - / C2.0(15:54)
08972 N33W23
(310",575") 		β/β Dao/Cso 0110/0020 13/04 - / C7.1(23:39)
C3.3(21:49)
C1.9(21:22)
C1.4(20:25)
C2.7(18:51)
08973 N20W25
(376",390") 		β/- Bxo/- 0010/- 03/- -

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

Events not associated with currently named NOAA regions: C4.7(01:08) C1.2(05:04)

Note: The tabulated data are based on the most recent NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary issued on 23-Apr-2000 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 23-Apr-2000 23:30 .