For those wondering, ACE is NOT reading solar wind speed correctly. Time of flight measurements indicate the solar storm speed average is 1660 km/s, which means the shock speed was likely well over 2000 km/s. This is not Carrington-class, but it is noteworthy. With the sustained southward field, we could very well reach G5-levels with this storm! Aurora watchers get to clear skies wherever you are. Radio communicators, expect propagation issues, especially on the nightside. Starlink users, expect internet degradation over the next 12+ hours. Grid watchers and GPS users, stay vigilant. This is a big one.

Attention: The coming #solarstorm is going to be much stronger than predicted! It has hit Solar Orbiter, which is currently serving as a long-range upstream monitor ahead of Earth. From the magnetic field observations (see red boxed area in the magnetic field plot), the magnetic structure of the storm has either rotated slightly or SolO is hitting the "bent" part of the structure that has the solar slinky tilted on its side. We now know the structure will likely have a "SWN" flux rope configuration once it hits Earth. If conditions hold, this means #aurora will build fast when the storm hits and stay strong for about the first 6 hours or so (throughout the magnetosheath and the early part of the solar storm core). Then the field will likely flip north and the storm will no longer be a strong aurora producer at mid-latitudes. In a nutshell, what all this means is that NOAA and NASA have underpredicted the impact of this coming storm. It could easily be a G3-level or higher, *IF* the observations from Solar Orbiter are any indication. Also, this storm will arrive between early to midday October 28 UTC time!