Finally, a few small Sunspots

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27600156/

"I think solar minimum is behind us," said David Hathaway of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "Last month we counted five sunspot groups."

From January to September, the sun produced 22 sunspot groups, and 82 percent of them belonged to old Cycle 23. Four of the five cycles in October belonged to Cycle 24.

On Nov. 3 and again on Nov. 4, a sunspot numbered 1007 unleashed a series of B-class solar flares.

I have been going back and looking to see. Good you found this and we May get a Few Warm Days from this, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for it.
Have to keep an eye on this for the next few days to see how it go's.

If I'm understanding the mechanisms correctly, it's a matter of the Sun's magnetic field shielding the Earth from Cosmic rays. I doubt a few days with small sunspots will change the extent and strength of the magnetosphere much. If the Sunspots continue and grow into a normal peak, and don't repeat the long trough again, we'll get back to the normal rhythm of runs of hot years and runs of cold years.

Heck, the cold stretch is still a _forecast_. One cold year doesn't make a Dalton Minimum.

MataPam said:

Heck, the cold stretch is still a _forecast_. One cold year doesn't make a Dalton Minimum.

Click to expand...

maybe one year doesn't....... but it starts with one year and the latest information thinks ice ages begin on a dime.
Best!motsfo

Climate models for AGW weren't acurate enough for planning, and neither are the reverse. Stay alert, stay flexible so you can react either way. Keep options open both directions.

Both? Ha! Wetter or drier have to be planned for as well.