We have had a X9 solar flare go off - not Earth facing, but it will evidently hit a glancing blow to us. These size flares are rare this late in Cycle 23, so it bears watching to see if this was a one time event, while this region of the sun rotates towards us.
I understand there was an associated blackout for a time yesterday evening. Conditions should be a bit flaky for a while - with the higher flux readings, contrary to what normally happens during the winter, the higher HF freqs might improve somewhat for a few days.
73s Mike
