Sunspots and effects on propagation, what is the lag time ???

[K0XY]

...I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the sunspot numbers jumped into the 60/70's or thereabouts...then in a day dropped to ZERO (when the spots rotated to the other side of the sun). How quickly does propagation react to an increase in sunspots and for that matter how quickly does it degrade with a lack of sunspots. Does propagation react within hours, days or weeks to significant changes in the sunspot count ?? thanx K0XY

[K7KBN]

If the spots are visible from earth, they will affect propagation on earth.  If the spots are plentiful and randomly scattered across and around the entire solar sphere, conditions will generally be good, e.g. 15 may be open 24 hours a day.

If there are only two or three spots and they're all in the same area on the sun, the sun's mass will shield earth from the spots' effects when the spots rotate around to the "other" side.

Ionospheric excitation drops off pretty quickly, but also rises quickly when the spots reappear.  It only takes 8 minutes or so for solar light to reach the earth, and the ionizing radiation isn't far behind.

[K0XY]

...thanx and good answer !