We are nearing a difficulty of 8.3 less than 3 hours after the difficulty crossed above 8...
So less 7 hours until we cross above 9?
I don't think so. See this chart -
http://imgur.com/a/85G2t$ ./primecoind getdifficulty
8.30140966
So we crossed it and this means that network powering up since block interval ~10 seconds