:Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2000 Jun 20 2112 UT HIGHLIGHTS OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 12 - 18 JUNE 2000 SOLAR ACTIVITY RANGED FROM LOW TO HIGH LEVELS. ACTIVITY WAS AT LOW LEVELS DURING 12 - 14 JUNE DUE TO OCCASIONAL C-CLASS SUBFLARES. ACTIVITY INCREASED TO MODERATE LEVELS ON 15 JUNE DUE TO AN M1/2N FLARE AT 15/1957UT WITH AN ASSOCIATED 250 SFU TENFLARE AND TYPE II RADIO SWEEP FROM REGION 9041 (N18, L = 028, CLASS/AREA DAO/150 ON 12 JUNE) AND AN M2/1F AT 15/2343UT FROM REGION 9040 (N18, L = 303, CLASS/AREA CAO/100 ON 14 JUNE). SOLAR ACTIVITY DECLINED TO LOW LEVELS ON 16 JUNE. ACTIVITY RETURNED TO MODERATE LEVELS ON 17 JUNE AS REGION 9033 (N23, L = 016, CLASS/AREA FKC/560 ON 10 JUNE) PRODUCED AN M3/2B FLARE AT 17/0237UT. ACTIVITY INCREASED TO HIGH LEVELS ON 18 JUNE AS REGION 9033 PRODUCED AN X1/SF FLARE AT 18/0159UT WITH AN ASSOCIATED 300 SFU TENFLARE AND A TYPE II RADIO SWEEP. REGION 9033, A MODERATE-SIZED MIXED-POLARITY REGION, HAD BEEN IN A STATE OF GRADUAL DECAY PRIOR TO THE X-FLARE. THIS FLARE OCCURRED AS REGION 9033 WAS CROSSING THE WEST LIMB. REAL-TIME SOLAR WIND DATA WERE AVAILABLE FROM THE NASA ADVANCED COMPOSITION EXPLORER (ACE) SPACECRAFT FOR MOST OF THE PERIOD. A RELATIVELY WEAK CME PASSAGE OCCURRED DURING 12 - 13 JUNE. THE PASSAGE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY A BRIEF VELOCITY INCREASE (480 TO 650 KM/SEC) FOLLOWED BY A SOUTHWARD TURNING OF IMF BZ FOR SEVERAL HOURS (MAXIMUM SOUTHWARD DEFLECTIONS TO MINUS 06 NT (GSM)). A CORONAL HOLE SIGNATURE WAS OBSERVED DURING 15 JUNE AS VELOCITIES INCREASED TO A HIGH OF 760 KM/SEC, DENSITIES DROPPED TO 1 TO 2 P/CC, AND IMF BZ SHOWED INCREASED VARIABILITY WITH A RANGE OF PLUS 7 TO MINUS 11 NT. ANOTHER WEAK TRANSIENT SIGNATURE WAS OBSERVED LATE ON 18 JUNE CHARACTERIZED BY A BRIEF VELOCITY INCREASE (360 TO 480 KM/SEC) AND A PERIOD OF SOUTHWARD IMF BZ WITH MAXIMUM SOUTHERLY DEFLECTIONS TO MINUS 8 NT. THE GREATER THAN 10 MEV PROTON FLUX AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT WAS ENHANCED, BUT DECLINING AS THE PERIOD BEGAN IN THE AFTERMATH OF A MAJOR FLARE THAT OCCURRED ON 10 JUNE. PROTON FLUXES RETURNED TO BACKGROUND LEVELS BY 13 JUNE. GREATER THAN 10 MEV PROTON FLUX ENHANCEMENTS ALSO OCCURRED ON 17 AND 18 JUNE FOLLOWING FLARE ACTIVITY FROM REGION 9033. PROTON FLUXES HAD RETURNED TO BACKGROUND LEVELS BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. THE GREATER THAN 2 MEV ELECTRON FLUX AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT WAS AT NORMAL TO MODERATE LEVELS. MOSTLY MODERATE LEVELS OCCURRED DURING 15 - 18 JUNE. THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD WAS DISTURBED DURING 12 - 15 JUNE. QUIET TO ACTIVE LEVELS WERE OBSERVED DURING 12 - 13 JUNE WITH BRIEF MINOR STORM LEVELS AT HIGH LATITUDES. QUIET TO MAJOR STORM LEVELS OCCURRED DURING 14 - 15 JUNE (STORM LEVELS WERE OBSERVED DURING 14/2100 - 15/0300UT). ACTIVITY DECREASED TO QUIET TO UNSETTLED LEVELS DURING 16 - 18 JUNE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF AN ACTIVE PERIOD DURING 18/1800-2100UT. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 21 JUNE - 17 JULY 2000 SOLAR ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO VARY BETWEEN LOW AND MODERATE LEVELS DURING MOST OF THE PERIOD, WITH OCCASIONAL C-CLASS AND ISOLATED M-CLASS FLARES EXPECTED. CHANCES FOR M-CLASS ACTIVITY ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE DURING 02 - 15 JULY WITH THE RETURN OF OLD REGION 9033. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR A PROTON EVENT AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT DURING 02 - 15 JULY DUE TO THE RETURN OF OLD REGION 9033. THE GREATER THAN 2 MEV ELECTRON FLUX AT GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT IS EXPECTED TO BE AT NORMAL TO MODERATE LEVELS THROUGH MOST OF THE PERIOD. HOWEVER, THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR HIGH FLUX LEVELS DURING 26 - 27 JUNE AND 12 - 13 JULY. THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD IS EXPECTED TO BE AT QUIET TO UNSETTLED LEVELS DURING MOST OF THE PERIOD, BARRING AN EARTH-DIRECTED CME. HOWEVER, THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR ACTIVE LEVELS DURING 25 - 26 JUNE AND 11 - 12 JULY DUE TO CORONAL HOLE EFFECTS. .