Minor C8.7 solar flare erupts at 18:38 UTC on May 2, 2026

A minor C8.7 solar flare erupted at 18:38 UTC on May 2, 2026.

Today’s flares include C1.1 at 01:19 UTC from region 4420, C2.5 at 02:45 UTC from region 4429, C2.4 at 05:48 UTC from region 4420, C1.9 at 06:25 UTC from region 4424, C1.8 at 08:10 UTC from region 4431, C2.2 at 09:25 UTC from region 4424, C2.0 at 10:28 UTC from region 4429, C4.0 at 11:04 UTC from region 4420, C3.1 at 11:51 UTC from region 4428, C3.5 at 12:03 UTC from region 4428, C3.8 at 12:11 UTC from region 4425, C2.4 at 14:04 UTC from region 4429, C3.5 at 15:21 UTC from region 4428, and C4.2 at 15:35 UTC from region 4424.

In 24 hours to 12:30 UTC on May 2, solar activity was low. The most significant events included a C7.4 flare on May 1 at 15:29 UTC, and a C4.0 flare on May 2 at 11:04 UTC. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed.

Solar activity is expected to remain at low levels with a chance for M-class (minor to moderate) flares from May 2 to May 4.

Active sunspot regions presently observed on the Earth-facing solar disk include AR 4420 (N16W83 – Beta), AR 4423 (S10W67 – Beta), AR 4424 (N17W49 – Beta), AR 4425 (N05W19 – Beta), AR 4428 (S23W27 – Beta), AR 4429 (S04E20 – Beta), AR 4430 (N16W31 – Beta), AR 4431 (S16E53 – Beta), and AR 4432 (N11E68 – Beta).

Over the past 24 hours, greater than 2 MeV electron flux remained at normal to moderate levels, while greater than 10 MeV proton flux persisted at background levels. These conditions are expected to continue through May 4.

Solar wind parameters were influenced by a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream, with total field strength peaking at 6 nT and Bz briefly reaching -5 nT. Solar wind speeds averaged around 450 km/s, with some lulls between 405 and 420 km/s. The enhanced solar wind environment is expected to persist due to ongoing coronal hole influences from May 2 to May 4.

The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to unsettled over the past 24 hours due to negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream influences. Conditions are forecast to remain quiet and unsettled on May 2 and May 4, with active periods likely on May 3 due to continued coronal hole influence.