Florida - Thursday February 22, 2024: NOAA's Space Weather website reports that the sun emitted a strong solar flares on Wednesday evening, and another early this morning, Thursday February 22.
The first flare peaked at 6:07 p.m. Wednesday, the second peaked at 1:32 a.m. this morning.
Both of them measured R3 on the NOAA Space Weather Scale. A solar flare that reaches the R3 level can result in short-term HF radio frequency blackouts
In a statement spaceweather.com, NOAA acknowledges that solar flares can affect communication systems, radar, and the Global Positioning System, based on the intensity of the eruption and associated phenomena. However "it is highly unlikely that these flares contributed to the widely reported cellular network outages" today.
NOAA and spaceweather.gov will continue to monitor the solar and near-Earth space environment for potential impacts to critical infrastructure and essential services.