EXTREME solar flare eruption sparked BLACKOUTS, NASA said; Another solar storm coming?

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Earlier, NASA prediction models revealed that there was a chance of solar flare eruption between February 17 and February 18. The prediction stated that there was a high chance of an M-class solar flare eruption with a minor possibility of X-class solar flare. However, the resultant flare that erupted at around 1:46 AM IST last night was the worst we have seen in two years. An X2.2-class solar flare erupted on a freshly formed sunspot AR3229. The severe radiation from the eruption caused a shortwave radio blackout that spread across North and South America. And now, there are fears that another solar storm could be on its way.

The incident was reported by SpaceWeather.com which noted on its website, “New sunspot AR3229 erupted on Feb. 17th (2016 UT), producing a strong X2.2-class solar flare. Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a deep shortwave radio blackout over the Americas. Mariners, aviators and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal and other unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz for more than an hour after the flare”.

The geoeffective region for this X2.2-class solar flare eruption was the entire western coast of American continents. The entire region between Chile in the south and Canada in the north came under the effect of the radiation coming from the solar explosion. The radio blackout affected independent planes and drones, small ships as well as amateur radio controllers, who all struggled to broadcast and receive communications.

This is also one of the strongest solar flare explosions seen in recent times, which highlights the increasing intensity of the Sun as it reaches close to its peak. However, the danger is not over yet.

Such eruptions