Severe floods and landslides hit Santa Catarina, Brazil
Heavy rains hit the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil on December 20, 2022, causing severe floods and landslides in which at least 2 people lost their lives.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
Severe Tropical Cyclone “Darian” kicks off the 2022–23 Australian tropical cyclone season
Tropical Cyclone “Darian” formed in the South Indian Ocean on December 18, 2022, as the first named storm of the 2022-23 Australian tropical cyclone season. Darian is traversing over the open waters of the South Indian Ocean and is not threatening any populated area.
Floods leave at least 4 people dead after more than 500 mm (19.7 inches) of rain in 24 hours, Thailand
Extremely heavy monsoon rains caused severe floods in southern Thailand over the past couple of days, leaving at least 4 people dead. The hardest hit were the provinces of Narathiwat, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Songkhla.
Asteroid 2022 YO1 flew past Earth at just 0.07 LD
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2022 YO1 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.07 LD / 0.00018 AU (27 627 km / 17 167 miles) at 18:40 UTC on December 17, 2022.
Strong and shallow M6.4 earthquake hits near the coast of Northern California, leaving at least 2 people dead and 12 injured
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.4 hit near the coast of Northern California at 10:34 UTC (02:34 LT) on December 20, 2022. The agency is reporting a depth of 16 km (9.9 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.3 at a depth of 40 km (24.8 miles).
Snow piling up at an unprecedented pace, Japan
Heavy sea effect snow continues affecting parts of Japan, bringing unprecedented amounts to parts of the country.
Extremely cold Arctic air to impact much of U.S.
A massive surge of extremely cold Arctic air will consume much of the Lower 48 this week with well below-normal temperatures stretching from the Northwest into the Eastern two-thirds of the U.S.
Severe turbulence hits flight HA35 from Phoenix to Honolulu, injuring 36 people, 11 seriously, Hawaii
Honolulu Airlines flight 35 from Phoenix to Hawaii encountered severe turbulence roughly 30 minutes before landing in Honolulu on December 18, 2022, causing some passengers to fly out of their seats. While the plane (Airbus A330) landed safely, 36 people were injured during the event, of which 11 seriously.
Freak wave hits South African beach, killing 3 people and injuring 17
An unusually large wave hit a popular beach in the city of Durban, South Africa at around 17:00 LT on December 17, 2022, killing three people and injuring 17 others.
Meteor explodes over Zhejiang – broken windows and street lamps reported, meteorites found, China
A very bright fireball exploded over China’s Zhejiang Province around 10:00 UTC on December 15, 2022. Parts of the object survived the entry and were later recovered. Locals reported broken windows and street lamps.
