Solar wind data recorded during the selected case study dates: 28 October 2019 (a–c), 29 January 2020 (d–f), and 22 February 2020 (g–i), indicated by red vertical lines. Panels a, d, and g show the solar wind/interplanetary magnetic field Bz component, indicating reconnection with Earth’s magnetic field when negative. Panels b, e, and h show the solar wind flow speed that during geomagnetic storms increases to over 400 km/s, as indicated by a horizontal line, while the sym-H component (a measure of the ring current), shown in panels c, f, and i abruptly goes negative during storms with a change of sym H > 20 nT (here the horizontal line corresponds to zero).