Watch: Sun Unleashes First Big Flare of 2014

STORM WARNING: NOAA forecasters estimate a 90% chance of geomagnetic storms on Jan. 9th when a CME is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The speed of the solar wind around Earth could spike to 700 km/s (1.6 million mph) shortly after the impact, sharply compressing Earth's magnetosphere. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

HUGE SUNSPOT, CHANCE OF FLARES: The source of the incoming CME is AR1944, one of the largest sunspots of the current solar cycle. The sprawling active region is more than 200,000 km wide and contains dozens of dark cores. The largest could swallow Earth three times over. AR1944 is circled in this Jan. 9th image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

As the image shows, the sunspot is almost directy facing Earth. This makes it a threat for geoeffective eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-class flares and a 50% chance of X-flares on Jan. 9th. 

More info HERE and HERE.

- Spaceweather.com