Аннотация:A method for describing the evolution of solar active regions is proposed which includes parameters obtained from direct observations (spot coordinates, velocities, etc.). These parameters are considered to be stochastic process values. The method of moments is used to obtain an evolution equation and, for the case of Markov processes, the corresponding Fokker-Planck approximation is constructed. Consideration is given to the problems associated with forecasting active region phenomena and choosing representative variables.