Solar flare explosion sparks BLACKOUTS on Earth, NASA satellite shows; Will a solar storm strike too?

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Yesterday, it was reported that multiple highly active regions on the Sun were spotted on the farside of the Earth that are threatening our planet with some powerful solar storms. But even before that, one of the Earth-facing sunspots, AR3331, went unstable yesterday, June 9, and produced an M2.5-class solar flare. The incident was spotted by the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The eruption sparked a short-wave radio blackout in Mexico and the southern region of the USA, marking the second such event this week. Earlier this week, a similar flare eruption caused blackouts over Africa. Astronomers are now trying to find out whether a solar storm will follow the eruption.

According to a report by SpaceWeather.com, “Sunspot AR3331 exploded on June 9th (1711 UT), producing an M2.5-class solar flare. A pulse of radiation ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere. This, in turn, caused a minor blackout of shortwave radio transmissions over the Gulf of Mexico”. It was also reported that loss of signal at frequencies below 15 MHz was observed for as much as 30 minutes after the flare.

After a period of three weeks without much solar activity, the Sun is gearing up for an intense period. This week may not have seen any solar storms, but solar flare eruptions and resultant blackouts were persistent. Three days ago, a solar storm sparked a blackout over the African continent that disrupted wireless communications for as long as 90 minutes. And yesterday, the Gulf of Mexico came under fire as it lost shortwave frequencies for half an hour.

The ionizing effect that causes blackouts can disrupt radio communication, GPS services, and drone activities as well as delay flights and can leave ships in the ocean without any reception.

But