Unexpected Solar Wind Stream Hits Earth at 372 Miles Per Second - ScienceAlert

While that's nothing too alarming – solar storms often pummel our planet triggering spectacular auroras – what is weird is that this storm was totally unexpected.

Through this monitoring, they're able to create space weather 'forecasts' that not only predict when solar storms or solar flares, also known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are heading our way, but how powerful they'll be.

7th hints at a shock wave embedded in the solar wind," writes Space Weather.

These winds were classified as a moderate G2 solar storm – storms are ranked G1 at the lowest end of the scale all the way up to G5, which is a powerful solar storm.

If you feel like this all sounds familiar, that's because we've witnessed a lot of solar storms this year, with the Sun now in the active phase of its 11-year solar cycle.