A recent period of strong solar flares is expected to gradually decline over the coming weeks and months, scientists say, along with the potential for brief communication blackouts as the sun’s solar cycle begins to fade.
The most powerful eruption of 2025 so far was observed last week by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The flare, classified as an X2.7, caused a 10-minute period of “degraded communications” for high-frequency radio systems in the Middle East, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
“We are at solar maximum, so there can be periods of more activity,” a spokesperson for the Space Weather Prediction Center told Global News in an email.
The spokesperson added that the active region last week’s flare emanated from, however, “has weakened magnetically, and even though it remains capable of producing a notable event, it seems less likely at this time.”
What are solar flares?
Solar flares — powerful bursts of energy within the sun’s atmosphere — are classified on a letter scale based on their intensity, with X-class flares considered the strongest. The number provides more information about their strength.
The X2.7 flare on May 14 came a day after an X1.2 flare was observed in a nearby region that has since rotated away from Earth’s orbit. The more active region has been rotating to face Earth.
The 10-minute blackout in the Middle East occurred because that part of the Earth was facing the sun at the time.
This image provided by the Space Weather Prediction Center at the U.S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the energy generated by an X2.7 solar flare on May 14, 2025, over parts of the Earth.
U.S. NOAA/NWS Space Weather Prediction Center
However, because the active region was still somewhat off to the side, a related coronal mass ejection — which produces plasma and magnetic energy from the sun’s corona — did not impact Earth.
Taylor Cameron, a space weather forecaster at the Canadian Hazards Information Service, told Global News it’s difficult to predict specifically when a solar flare can erupt and which part of Earth it can affect.
The sun is currently at the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, known as solar maximum.
Although activity is generally declining, the Space Weather Prediction Center spokesperson told Global News that “sunspot activity and solar event expectations remain elevated this year and perhaps even into 2026.”
Solar flares and eruptions “can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts,” NASA says.
Cameron said solar flares only impact high-frequency radio communications, which can include ham radios, shortwave broadcasting, aviation air-to-ground communications and over-the-horizon radar systems. Other communication networks, like internet, 5G and cellular service, aren’t affected.
The stronger a flare is, Cameron added, the more severe and longer a blackout or disruption can be.
To date, the most powerful flare of the current solar cycle was an X9.0 observed last October. That was strong enough to produce faint northern lights across parts of North America, which can occur during solar storms.
Another solar storm last spring produced stronger northern lights over much of Canada.
The Space Weather Prediction Center has reported brief radio blackouts due to multiple X-class solar flares recorded over the past several months.
