Solar flares erupted during the nationwide cellphone outage. Did they cause it?

Alex Groth, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Updated ·2 min read
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NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the lower right – on Feb. 9, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares, and which is colorized in teal.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash on the lower right – on Feb. 9, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares, and which is colorized in teal.

A nationwide outage Thursday that left tens of thousands of Americans without cellphone service was likely not caused by two major solar flares erupting earlier this week, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

When did the power flares occur? Did they affect the nationwide cellphone outage? Here's what we know.

RELATED: Wisconsin outage map: How to check status of AT&T, Verizon, T Mobile services

When did the powerful solar flares occur?

Two flares erupted from the Sun in the late afternoon on Feb. 21 through the overnight hours into early Feb. 22. The events peaked at 6:07 p.m. EST on Wednesday and the second peak was at 1:32 a.m. EST on Thursday.

Did the solar flares cause the nationwide cellphone outage?

Solar flares can affect communication systems, radar, and the Global Positioning System, but based on the intensity of these two eruptions, it's unlikely that these flares contributed to a widely reported cellular network outage, says NOAA.

What is a solar flare?

A solar flare is a burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots, according to NASA. As our solar system's largest explosive events, flares are seen as bright areas on the sun and can last from minutes to hours.

How strong were the recent solar flares?

The two flares on Wednesday and Thursday were classified X, which is the most intense flare, according to NASA.

How many people lost cellphone service during outage?

At the peak, the outage tracking website Downdetector counted more than 70,000 AT&T outage reports in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. Hundreds of users also reported outages in Milwaukee. Cricket Wireless had more than 13,000, Verizon had more than 4,000 outages and T-Mobile had more than 2,000 outages at the peak.

AT&T said it restored service to all customers in a statement Thursday.

What caused the outage?

According to a statement from AT&T released on Thursday: "We believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack." AT&T said they are continuing to assess Thursday's outage to ensure they deliver service to customers.

Sophie Carson and Rick Barrett contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Solar flares likely not cause of AT&T cellphone outage in Wisconsin