Thursday, September 29, 2016

K9LA: Future Solar Cycles Likely to Be Weak But Present


Sunspots in Cycle 25? K9LA says
expect some, but not as many as
during the current cycle.
(National Weather Service photo)
Propagation expert Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, told a webinar in August that "we are headed for some small (solar) cycles," but he says data no longer support predictions of another "Maunder Minimum" with few to no sunspots at all. "There seems to be a good correlation," Luetzelschwab told a World Wide Radio Operators Foundation webinar, between how long a solar minimum is and the next solar cycle. The longer you spend at solar minimum, the smaller the next cycle." He said he expects the current cycle (24) to bottom out in 2020, but added that the downward trend of disappearing sunspots appears to have leveled off. This, he suggested, likely means that Cycle 25 will be weaker than the current one but will not be absent as some experts have predicted.