Senior House members, citing a potential threat to the safety of millions of people, urgently asked a federal agency Wednesday to delay an auction of radio frequency spectrum that is slated to occur Thursday.

If that spectrum is used for 5G wireless communications, as planned, it could interfere with government satellites’ ability to collect data in a nearby band — information on which accurate weather forecasts hinge, three House Appropriations subcommittee chairmen said in a letter obtained by Roll Call.

Such information is “critical for national security as well as the protection of American lives and property,” they wrote to Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which plans to hold the auction.

“Without this data, the nation’s forecasting capacity would be reduced to the accuracy of the forecasts produced in the 1970s,” the Democratic appropriators wrote. “For example, the forecast for Superstorm Sandy would have predicted landfall in Maine 24 hours later than actual landfall occurred in New Jersey, roughly 300 miles away. This would have further imperiled millions of Americans.”

The letter was written by Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana, chairman of the Subcommittee on Defense; Mike Quigley of Illinois, chairman of the Financial Services panel; and Jose E. Serrano of New York, chairman of the Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee.