G1 (Minor) Geomagnetic Storm of December 13, 1959
A G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm began December 13, 1959, reached Kp 5+ and lasted 21 hours, with a daily Ap as high as 41; at that Kp the aurora may be seen from about 58 degrees geomagnetic latitude.
The Kp through the storm
Began Dec 13, 21:00 UTC, peaked in the block from Dec 13, 21:00 UTC, ended Dec 14, 18:00 UTC.
The storm
- Peak Kp
- 5+ (5.33)
- NOAA level
- G1 Minor
- Duration
- 21 hours
- Highest daily Ap
- 41
- Highest 3-hour ap
- 56
- Rank since 1932
- 2,166 of 4,139
How far south the aurora could have been seen
At Kp 5+ NOAA’s scales put the aurora’s reach at about 58 degrees geomagnetic latitude: 50°N in the central US, 49°N in the eastern US, 53°N in the western US and 59°N in northern Europe.
NOAA says a G1 storm’s aurora commonly visible at high latitudes: northern Michigan and Maine.
US cities within reach, the southernmost first
- Anchorage, AK 61.9° geomag.
1 US cities of 150,000 people or more sit at or poleward of that line. Low on the northern horizon under a dark, clear sky; not a record of sightings.
Day by day
The daily Ap is the mean of the day’s eight three-hour ap values.
| UT day | Daily Ap | Highest Kp that day |
|---|---|---|
| December 13, 1959 | 18 | 5+ |
| December 14, 1959 | 41 | 5+ |
More
The storm before, Dec 5The storm after, Dec 23Every storm of 1959The strongest on recordThis day in weather historyTonight’s aurora forecast
Sources
Kp and ap from GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Geomagnetic Observatory Niemegk, licensed CC BY 4.0: Matzka, J., Stolle, C., Yamazaki, Y., Bronkalla, O. and Morschhauser, A., 2021, The geomagnetic Kp index and derived indices of geomagnetic activity, Space Weather, doi:10.1029/2020SW002641; data doi:10.5880/Kp.0001. Storms, levels and aurora reach worked out by WeatherOverTime from those values and NOAA’s space weather scales. Definitive through August 31, 2026; later values are preliminary. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.