Via ARVic, original post here.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has found a gigantic hole in the sun’s atmosphere spewing solar wind toward Earth.

Coronal holes are where the magnetic field unfurls and allows solar wind to escape.  Normally those fields curve back on themselves, trapping solar wind inside their loops.

Inside a coronal hole, no such trapping occurs, with Solar wind plasma free to move away.  This should create some Arctic auroras, and forecasters are talking about geomagnetic storms as Earth moves deeper into the solar wind stream.

More information is at http://spaceweather.com