HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reporting an X-Class solar flare occurred Thursday morning. NOAA is categorizing the flare as an R3, which is described as being strong but not extreme. The flare apparently reached levels of X9 which is a physical measure of the flare. This took place at 7:18 a.m. According to the NOAA website, these types of flares have an average frequency of 175 per cycle. One complete cycle is 11 years. "X-class denotes the most intense flares," according to NASA. The repercussions of a flare of this magnitude are wide-area blackouts of high-frequency radio communication and loss of radio contact for about an hour on the sunlit side of Earth. Photo Courtesy NOAA Additionally, low-frequency navigation signals may be degraded for about an hour. NOAA reported that "flares of this magnitude in and around solar maximum are generally not common, although not necessarily unusual." According to the release from the administration, solar flares of this magnitude are also impulsive, meaning they are quick to rise and decrease. They could last minutes or hours.