G3 (Strong) Geomagnetic Storm of September 22, 1973
A G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm began September 22, 1973, reached Kp 7 and lasted 24 hours, with a daily Ap as high as 63; at that Kp the aurora may be seen from about 50 degrees geomagnetic latitude.
The Kp through the storm
Began Sep 22, 21:00 UTC, peaked in the block from Sep 23, 09:00 UTC, ended Sep 23, 21:00 UTC.
The storm
- Peak Kp
- 7 (7.00)
- NOAA level
- G3 Strong
- Duration
- 24 hours
- Highest daily Ap
- 63
- Highest 3-hour ap
- 132
- Rank since 1932
- 474 of 4,139
How far south the aurora could have been seen
At Kp 7 NOAA’s scales put the aurora’s reach at about 50 degrees geomagnetic latitude: 42°N in the central US, 41°N in the eastern US, 44°N in the western US and 51°N in northern Europe.
NOAA says a G3 storm’s aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon.
US cities within reach, the southernmost first
- Washington Heights, NY 50.0° geomag.
- The Bronx, NY 50.0° geomag.
- Fort Wayne, IN 50.1° geomag.
- Des Moines, IA 50.1° geomag.
- Yonkers, NY 50.1° geomag.
- Akron, OH 50.2° geomag.
- Salem, OR 50.3° geomag.
- Aurora, IL 50.6° geomag.
- Cleveland, OH 50.6° geomag.
- Toledo, OH 50.7° geomag.
32 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 |
|---|---|---|
| September 22, 1973 | 17 | 5+ |
| September 23, 1973 | 63 | 7 |
More
The storm before, Sep 10The storm after, Sep 25Every storm of 1973The 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.