An X3.0 flare was registered by GOES-16 as peaked today at 14:38 UTC. The source was an Active Region (AR) located at S07E90. Although a proton event and a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) might take place as a result, they are unlikely to be Earth-directed.

A class X2.9 solar X-ray flare occurred on 2024/05/15 with peak time 14:38UT

A halo or partial-halo CME was detected with the following characteristics: t0 | dt0| pa | da | v | dv | minv| maxv| 2024-05-15T16:24:07.474 | 6.0 | 263 | 232 | 436 | 607 | 162 | 1953 t0: onset time, earliest indication of liftoff dt0: duration of liftoff (hours) pa: principal angle, counterclockwise from North (degrees) da: angular width of the CME (degrees), v: median velocity (km/s) dv: variation (1 sigma) of velocity over the width of the CME mindv: lowest velocity detected within the CME maxdv: highest velocity detected within the CME

Solar flaring activity was high during the last 24 hours with three X-class flares detected during the last 24 hours. The brightest flare was a long-lasting X8.7 emited from NOAA Active Region (AR) 3664 (magnetic configuration Beta-Gamma-Delta, Catania sunspot group 86) yesterday at 16:51 UTC. The same AR produced the rest of the X-class flare activity, namely an X3.4 that peaked today at 08:37 UTC and an X1.2 that peaked yesterday at 12:55 UTC. NOAA AR 3682 (magnetic configuration Beta-Gamma, Catania sunspot group 7) was also active during the past 24 hours with its brightest flare being an M4 yesterday at 17:38 UTC. Although NOAA AR 3664 is expected to remain highly active, it is currently rotating behind the west solar limb and its activity will be significantly obscured in the next 24 hours. NOAA AR 3682 is expected to continue its activity at an M-class level during the next 24 hours. Isolated X-class events are still possible, either from NOAA AR 3664 or 3682. Two Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) with possibly Earth-directed components can be seen in SOHO/LASCO-C2 images as launched yesterday. A better estimation will be made as more data become available. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux, as measured by the GOES-18 satellite, remained well above the 10 pfu alert threshold during the last 24 hours. This is proven to be a long-lasting proton event, thus the proton flux is expected to remain above the alert level for most, if not all, of the next 24 hours. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux, as measured by the GOES-18 satellite, remained at the 1000 pfu alert level during the past 24 hours. It is expected to remain approximately at this level for the next 24 hours. The 24h electron fluence increased to moderate levels during the past 24 hours. It is expected remain at the moderate level in the next 24 hours.

Geomagnetic conditions were both globally and locally unsettled to quiet (NOAA Kp 3- to 1 and K BEL 3 to 2) during the past 24 hours. In the next 24 hours they are expected to reach active levels as a result of the expected arrival of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The Solar Wind (SW) conditions are gradually returning to the slow SW regime during the past 24 hours. The SW speed dropped from 590 to 490 km/s, while the total interplanetary magnetic field (Bt) varied between 3 and 5 nT. The North-South magnetic component (Bz) ranged between -4 and 4 nT, while the interplanetary magnetic field phi angle was predominantly directed away from the Sun. A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is expected to arrive at Earth today and disturb the SW conditions.