GPS Glitched Across The US by as Much as 33 Feet. Scientists Have Never Seen This Before.

Key Points:

• In November 2025, a massive solar superstorm caused widespread atmospheric disturbances across the continental US, leading to significant disruptions in GPS accuracy by more than 10 meters in some areas, affecting technologies like precision agriculture and autonomous vehicles.
• Researchers led by Endawoke Yizengaw discovered that the storm produced strong amplitude scintillation—a rapid fluctuation in radio signal strength—across an unprecedentedly wide mid-latitude region, previously considered relatively calm for such space weather effects.
• The superstorm expanded the auroral oval toward lower latitudes, creating electron density irregularities in the ionosphere that distorted satellite signals, with the disturbances stretching nearly coast-to-coast across the US.
• These findings highlight the vulnerability of critical industries to solar activity, especially during peak farming seasons, and emphasize the need for improved understanding and predictive modeling of space weather to mitigate future disruptions.
• The study underscores the importance of coordinated observations and physics-based modeling to enhance forecasting capabilities and reduce impacts on radio-frequency applications during geomagnetic storms.