Largest Solar Flare in Years Causes Radio Disruptions Across the Americas

The largest solar flare in years occurred Thursday, temporarily knocking out radio communications on Earth.

A NASA telescope observed the sun spewing out the huge flare along with a “massive radio burst,” causing two hours of radio interference “in parts of the U.S. and other sunlit parts of the world,” the Associated Press reported.

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) believe the flare was “likely one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded.”

“These impacts were felt from one end of the Nation to the other,” the NOAA said of the biggest flare since 2017, with multiple pilots and other professionals using radios to communicate reporting disruptions.

Scientists are now monitoring the northwest region of the sun from where the flare was emitted for a possible coronal mass ejection, which is a mass of plasma “that might be directed at Earth,” according to the Associated Press.

A coronal mass ejection could result in a geomagnetic storm, the NOAA’s Shawn Dahl said, making it possible for high-frequency radio signals at higher latitudes to become disrupted.

It could also trigger displays of northern lights in the coming days.

Thankfully, he says there’s nothing to worry about in terms of safety.

“Any space weather event coming from the sun will not harm you as long as you’re on the surface of the planet. There are industries that could be impacted though, like our technologies — GPS accuracy, communication issues as we experienced during the event yesterday,” Dahl said in a statement obtained by CBS News.