I am not an expert, but it’s worth noting that the kp index has a maximum value of 9. So though the Carrington event had a kp of 9, its intensity on the related (but not capped) HP30/HP60 scale [1] would likely have been higher.
[1] https://kp.gfz.de/en/hp30-hp60
Disturbance storm time index (DST) is a better measure of peak intensity as KP is just a weighted average of the intensity from the last three hours across monitoring stations.
Mid to late 2025 was the peak of an 11 year solar cycle (25th one since we've started keeping track). We're on the trailing end of that peak activity now, which is why the past year/several months has seemed so active compared to recent years past, and should decrease significantly (in frequency and intensity) as 2026 progresses.
There was also a fairly significant geomagnetic storm back in November of 2025 as well.
I am not an expert, but it’s worth noting that the kp index has a maximum value of 9. So though the Carrington event had a kp of 9, its intensity on the related (but not capped) HP30/HP60 scale [1] would likely have been higher. [1] https://kp.gfz.de/en/hp30-hp60
Queue Chernobyl documentary clip measuring the radiation as low because that’s as high the meter went
s/queue/cue/
Though I suppose you could also queue it.
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3.6 roentgen. Not great, not terrible!
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Disturbance storm time index (DST) is a better measure of peak intensity as KP is just a weighted average of the intensity from the last three hours across monitoring stations.
The May 2024 G5 electrical storm had a peak measured DST of −412 nT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_2024_solar_storms
The Carrington Event had an estimated peak DST of −800 nT to −1750 nT, but no one really knows: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event
This is also related to weaker solar events leading to stronger Earth storms due to Earth's weakening magnetic field.
Have we been having these more recently?
I don't ever recall seeing these in the news so frequently. It feels like there are several a year now. A decade ago, never.
And I also never remember seeing Aurora at my latitudes.
Do we just have better sensing now, or is there some cycle on a period longer than a few years? Or maybe I'm crazy and just never noticed.
Mid to late 2025 was the peak of an 11 year solar cycle (25th one since we've started keeping track). We're on the trailing end of that peak activity now, which is why the past year/several months has seemed so active compared to recent years past, and should decrease significantly (in frequency and intensity) as 2026 progresses.
There was also a fairly significant geomagnetic storm back in November of 2025 as well.
You can see the data here at NOAA's Space Weather site https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression
We've just passed the 11 year peak - the sun spot activity has a period of around 11 years.