Nationwide cell service outages affecting Florida beginning to drop. Here's what we know

Having problems with your phone this morning?

You're not alone and the nationwide outage was also affecting customers' ability to call 911.

A cellular outage across the United States affected AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon customers, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.

T-Mobile said it's network was operating normally Wednesday and the problems reported to Downdetector were "likely reflecting challenges our customers were having attempting to connect to users on other networks."

The number of reported outages continued to grow most of the morning, but the number of reported outages started to drop around noon and have been consistently dropping through the early afternoon.

AT&T customers continued to report the most problems, with just over 4,000 reporting outages as of 2 p.m. But about 10 minutes later AT&T's website had a message that the company had "restored wireless service to all our affected customers."

Downdetector "reports an incident when the number of problem reports is significantly higher than the typical volume for that time of day.

Here's what we know about Wednesday's outages.

What is causing the problem and when will service be restored?

It's unknown at this time what is causing the nationwide problems and when full service will be restored.

“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning. We are working urgently to restore service to them," AT&T said in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday morning. "We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”

Florida outage map: How to check status of services

Later Thursday afternoon, AT&T released released the following statement: "We have restored wireless service to all our affected customers. We sincerely apologize to them. We are taking steps to ensure our customers do not experience this again in the future.

The company did not share information on why the outage may have started, or how many customers were affected. The outage figures reported by Downdetector, largely based on submissions from users, may not be accurate.

Did a solar flare cause the cellphone outages?

While speculation continues on what caused the nationwide disruption to cell coverage, one theory caught the attention of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after two powerful solar flares billions of times stronger than a hydrogen bomb erupted from the sun Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

"While solar flares can affect communication systems, radar, and the Global Positioning System, based on the intensity of the eruption and associated phenomena, it is highly unlikely that these flares contributed to the widely reported cellular network outages," according to a statement  from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

Can't call 911? Florida sheriff offices explain what to do

The Flagler County Sheriff's Office notified followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the nationwide outage affecting AT&T was affecting users' ability to call 911.

Users were unable to call out or receive calls with SOS being displayed on their phones. "During this outage, AT&T users may not be able to call 911. The Rapid SOS feature is also disabled."

Around 7 a.m., the Flagler County Sheriff's Office said texts to 911 from affected AT&T customers are now being received.

The same was the case in Palm Beach County, where the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office advised anyone with an emergency who is unable to call 911 to text 911 for help.

"If you have an emergency, and cannot dial out, send a text message to 911."

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office said AT&T customers should call the non-emergency number 407-665-6650 for emergencies until the issue is resolved.

How to fix phone SOS: Wondering why your phone is showing SOS? Here's what it means and how to fix it

AT&T outages reported over the last 24 hours

According to Downdetector, AT&T outages reported around 6:30 a.m. hit 35,914.

By 8 a.m., the number of reported outages had grown to 71,470.

By 9 a.m., the numbers continued to grow, with 72,387 outages reported.

At 11 a.m., the number of reported outages dropped to 56,854, after hitting a peak of 73,941 at 9:03 a.m.

At 2:08 p.m., the number of reported outages dropped to the lowest point of the day, with 4,165 still saying they had service problems.

Most reported locations included Miami, Houston, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Louisville, Chicago and Atlanta.

Most reported problems were:

• Mobile phone: 51%

• No signal: 41%

• Mobile internet: 8%

AT&T outage map

AT&T allows users to sign up for text alert updates about outages, or you can check on outages with your mobile phone or internet here.

The map just confirms the problems you are having are due to an area outage, and not just problems with your own equipment. It does not provide an estimated time for repair.

Verizon outages reported over the last 24 hours

Outages reported around 6:30 a.m. hit 1,977.

By 8 a.m., the number has grown to 4,390.

At 9 a.m., the numbers had dropped slightly to 4,176.

At 11 a.m., the number of reported outages dropped to 2,571, after hitting a peak of 4,336 at 8:05 a.m.

At 2:08 p.m., the number of reported outages dropped to the lowest point of the day, with 865 still saying they had service problems.

Most locations reporting problems were: Chicago, Brooklyn, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta.

Most reported problems were:

• Mobile phone: 65%

• No signal: 22%

• 5G home internet: 12%

Verizon outages

Verizon requires customers to sign into their accounts to check outages, but you can also find troubleshooting info and check on the status of repair requests.

They also have a handy frequently asked questions section that might be helpful during an outage.

T-Mobile outages reported over last 24 hours

Outages reported around 6:30 a.m. hit 865, after a peak of 929 around 4:30 a.m.

By 8 a.m., the number has grown to 2,040.

At 9 a.m., the outage numbers were almost the same, standing at 2,005.

At 11 a.m., the number of reported outages dropped to 1,462, after hitting a peak of 1,986 at 9:08 a.m.

At 2:07 p.m., the number of reported outages dropped to the lowest point of the day, with 610 still saying they had service problems.

Areas reporting problems included Miami, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City.

Most reported problems were:

• No signal: 50%

• 5G home internet: 26%

• Mobile internet: 24%

How to report T-Mobile problems

For internet and data issues, go to T-Mobile's website.

Cricket outages reported over last 24 hours

Outages reported around 6:30 a.m. hit 8,420.

By 8 a.m., the number had grown to 13,581.

At 11 a.m., the number of reported outages has dropped to 8,732, after hitting a peak of 13,866 at 8:03 a.m.

At 2:13 p.m., the number of reported outages dropped to the lowest point of the day, with 539 still saying they had service problems.

Most reported problems were:

• No signal: 68%

• Mobile phone: 18%

• Total blackout: 14%

Users react on social media to outage

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: ATT outage: Cell service down across US, Florida also affecting 911