Powerful Solar Storm , Expected to Disrupt , Radio Signals .br 'Newsweek' reports that a solar storm, caused by an br X-class solar flare that took place on New Year's Eve, br was expected to impact Earth on January 2. .br Experts warned that the resulting solar storm br could start disrupting radio signals and cause br bright auroras on that date.br The super #solarstorm launched br during a X4.98-flare New Year's Eve br will clip Earth. NOAA prediction br shows impact early January 2 (UTC), Tamitha Skov, space weather physicist, via X .br The storm should hit hard, br but last less than a day. br Expect bright, but short-lived br #aurora plus #radio signal br disruptions on Earth's nightside, Tamitha Skov, space weather physicist, via X .br The storm should hit hard, br but last less than a day. br Expect bright, but short-lived br #aurora plus #radio signal br disruptions on Earth's nightside, Tamitha Skov, space weather physicist, via X .br A solar flare is an ejection of electromagnetic br radiation, usually in the form of X-rays. .br Typically, solar flares are emitted from sunspots on br the surface of the sun and occur when magnetic fields br in those sunspots become reorganized or entangled.br The weakest are the A-class flares, br followed in intensity by the B-class, br C-class, M-class—these are br moderate—and the X-class, Gonzalo José Carracedo Carballal, astrophysics researcher br at Madrid's Instituto Nacional de Técnica, via 'Newsweek'.br According to Jesse Woodroffe, a program scientist in the br Heliophysics Division at NASA headquarters, solar flares are, "around a million times br stronger than a nuclear bomb.".br However, 'Newsweek' reports that a nuclear explosion takes br place in a highly localized position of time and space, while the energy emitted by solar flares spreads across a vast distance.