Moderate M1.8 solar flare erupts at 01:33 UTC on May 4, 2026

A moderate M1.8 solar flare erupted at 01:33 UTC on May 4, 2026 and concluded at 01:44 UTC, originating from active region 4424.

Today’s flares include an M1.8 flare from region 4424, peaking at 01:33 UTC, and C-class events such as a C1.2 flare from region 4429 at 10:51 UTC and a C1.5 flare from region 4425 at 11:39 UTC.

In 24 hours to 12:30 UTC on May 4, solar activity reached moderate levels, primarily due to the M1.8 flare. Other active regions exhibited signs of decay or stabilization, and no Earth-directed coronal mass ejections were detected.

Solar activity is expected to remain at low levels with a chance for moderate M-class flares (R1-R2/Minor-Moderate) from May 4 to May 6.

Active sunspot regions presently observed on the Earth-facing solar disk include AR 4423 (S10W97 – Alpha), AR 4424 (N17W78 – Beta), AR 4425 (N05W48 – Beta), AR 4428 (S24W51 – Beta), AR 4429 (S04W07 – Beta), AR 4430 (N17W58 – Alpha), AR 4431 (S16E24 – Beta), AR 4432 (N12E40 – Beta), and AR 4433 (S16E68 – Beta).

Over the past 24 hours, greater than 2 MeV electron flux remained at normal to moderate levels. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux stayed at background values. Both trends are expected to continue through May 6.

Solar wind parameters reflected weak negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream influences, with the total field mostly under 5 nT and minor enhancement after 04:05 UTC to 5–8 nT. Solar wind speeds gradually decreased from 435–440 km/s to around 400 km/s. The solar wind environment is predicted to stay slightly enhanced as negative polarity stream effects diminish through May 6.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to unsettled levels throughout the past 24 hours. Similar quiet to unsettled geomagnetic conditions are forecast to continue as the coronal hole high speed stream wanes.