{"id":428053,"date":"2026-02-26T15:31:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=428053"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:31:46","slug":"sunspots-abruptly-disappear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=428053","title":{"rendered":"Sunspots Abruptly Disappear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Via Spaceweather.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 4 years of non-stop sunspot activity, the face of the sun is suddenly blank\u2013no sunspots. The first spotless days since 2022 herald the distant approach of a new Solar Minimum.

Click on this image to magnify it and take a careful look around the solar disk. Can you find any sunspots? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This week has brought the first \u201cspotless days\u201d since 2022. So far, Feb. 22nd, Feb. 23rd, and Feb 24th have had completely blank suns. This breaks an uninterrupted 4 years of non-stop sunspot activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this mean? It\u2019s an early warning of Solar Minimum, the low point of the 11-year solar cycle. During years around Solar Minimum, whole months can go by without a single sunspot, racking up dozens of spotless days in a row. Between 2018 and 2020 (the last Solar Minimum) there were more than 700 spotless days in total. You can find the daily counts right here<\/a> on Spaceweather.com. The Current Spotless Stretch is 3 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar Cycle 25 still has years of life left in it. However, these spotless days tell us that the current cycle is waning. Sunspots will be back\u2013probably tomorrow\u2013but this week is a preview of things to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 4 years of non-stop sunspot activity, the face of the sun is suddenly blank\u2013no sunspots. The first spotless days since 2022 herald the distant approach of a new Solar Minimum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":428056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691834975,691828714,691834020,691819083],"class_list":["post-428053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-current-solar-cycle-25","tag-solar-minimum","tag-spaceweather-com","tag-sunspots","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Nm5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":256125,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256125","url_meta":{"origin":428053,"position":0},"title":"Reversed-Polarity Sunspot","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"New sunspot AR3296 is breaking the law:\u00a0Hale\u2019s Law. 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New research just published in the journal\u00a0Space Weather\u00a0suggests that the Gleissberg Cycle is waking up again, which could make solar cycles for the next 50 years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"current Solar Cycle 25\"","block_context":{"text":"current Solar Cycle 25","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=current-solar-cycle-25"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0solarflares.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0solarflares.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0solarflares.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0solarflares.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0solarflares.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":424776,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424776","url_meta":{"origin":428053,"position":2},"title":"A MAJOR SUNSPOT IS FACING EARTH \u2013 Potential for Huge X-Class Solar Flares","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/05\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"There's currently a major sunspot region (designated AR4366 or Region 4366) facing Earth that's been extremely active, producing multiple X-class solar flares\u2014the strongest category\u2014and raising concerns about potential for more huge flares.","rel":"","context":"In \"Coronal Mass Ejection\u00a0(CME)\"","block_context":{"text":"Coronal Mass Ejection\u00a0(CME)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=coronal-mass-ejection-cme"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/00Screenshot-2026-02-05-165205.png?fit=1200%2C598&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/00Screenshot-2026-02-05-165205.png?fit=1200%2C598&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/00Screenshot-2026-02-05-165205.png?fit=1200%2C598&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/00Screenshot-2026-02-05-165205.png?fit=1200%2C598&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/00Screenshot-2026-02-05-165205.png?fit=1200%2C598&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":345389,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=345389","url_meta":{"origin":428053,"position":3},"title":"Strongest Solar Flare Yet of Solar Cycle 25 Took Place Earlier Today\u2026CME To Strike This Weekend with Widespread Auroras Possible","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/04\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Solar Cycle 25 is nearing its solar maximum and \u2013 as is typical during this phase of a solar cycle \u2013 there has been a lot of solar activity in recent weeks with numerous sunspots. 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