The number of days with magnetic storms in 2025 was the highest in 10 years. The total number of geomagnetically disturbed days has reached a 20-year high.
The number of days with magnetic storms and the total number of geomagnetically disturbed days in 2025 significantly exceeded last year's figures and became one of the largest in the last 2 decades. Over the past 358 days since the beginning of the year, magnetic storms have been observed in 69 cases compared to 44 cases in 2024. Even more significant was the increase in the total number of days with geomagnetic disturbances, in which the Kp index reached a value of 4 or higher (yellow and red levels). There were 164 of them against 94, which is 75% more.
Comparable and high values in the number of days with magnetic storms were last achieved in 2015 (79 cases) and 2016 (69 cases), that is, 10 years ago. At the same time, the value of 2016 will almost certainly be blocked for the rest of the week of the year: a large coronal hole continues to act on the Earth, and the necessary storm may occur today. In terms of the total number of geomagnetically disturbed days, the last time higher values (169 days) were observed was only in 2005, that is, 20 years ago.
The main factor influencing the increase in the number of storms was the unusually large number of coronal holes in the Sun, the massive formation of which began in the first months of the year. If few people knew the term "coronal holes" last year, now these structures completely dominate the information agenda, overshadowing outbursts and other phenomena of solar activity. Since there are no signs of a systemic decrease in the number of coronal holes or a decrease in their size yet, it can be expected that at least the first months of the coming 2026 will continue to be significantly influenced by them, and the increased number of magnetic storms will remain for the time being.