Solar flare activity on the rise | Weather

On August 9 at 3:05 a.m. Memphis time, sunspot 1263 produced an X7-Class solar flare - only the third X-flare of new Solar Cycle 24 and the most powerful so far.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the explosion's brief but extreme ultraviolet flash. The brunt of the explosion was not Earth directed. Nevertheless, radiation from the flare created waves of ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere, briefly disrupting communications at some VLF and HF radio frequencies.

The blast also accelerated a mild torrent of protons toward Earth which will enhance the Northern Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights