  During a solar magnetic field reversal the magnetic dipole moment does not
vanish, but migrates between poles, in contradiction to the predictions of
mean-field dynamo theory. We try to explain this as a consequence of magnetic
fluctuations. We exploit the statistics of fluctuations to estimate observable
signatures. Simple statistical estimates, taken with results from mean-field
dynamo theory, suggest that a non-zero dipole moment may persist through a
global field reversal. Fluctuations in the solar magnetic field may play a key
role in explaining reversals of the dipolar component of the field.
