I've noticed something different about this outage (at least in Atlanta). In previous outages, I would have to go through the ##778# gymnastics to reset the modem to Rev.A. I didn't have to do that today. Also, I tried the CDMA Only / LTE/CMDA switch and nothing would happen (stayed in 3G).
However, airplane mode toggling got me back an LTE signal, but it wouldn't stick. Same with a battery/SIM card pull and reboot. However, I just toggled airplane mode one more time (or is that two more times?) and for the past 15 minutes the LTE seems to be "sticking."
BTW, Thunderbolt user here.