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.
Mutnovsky volcano in southern Kamchatka, Russia, produced an ash explosion at 20:19 UTC on July 1, 2026 (08:19 LT on July 2), marking its first documented eruption since July 3, 2013. KVERT reported that the approximately 3-minute event generated an ash plume up to 3.5 km (11 500 feet) above sea level, extending about 10 km (6 miles) west of the volcano.
An X1.1 solar flare from Active Region 4479 produced a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 30, 2026, prompting SWPC to issue a G2 – Moderate Geomagnetic Storm Watch for July 3.
A strong earthquake registered by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as M6.0 hit off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Honshu at 12:08 UTC (21:08 JST) on July 1, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 40 km (25 miles). USGS registered this quake as M5.9 at a depth of 37 km (23 miles).
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 struck the Gulf of California, Mexico at 19:45 UTC on June 30, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth. There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.
A strong solar flare measuring M5.8 erupted from Active Region 4475 located at the west limb at 12:57 UTC on June 30, 2026. The event started at 12:37 and ended at 13:23 UTC.
Canyon County, in southwest Idaho’s Treasure Valley west of Boise, declared a countywide disaster emergency on June 27, 2026, after severe thunderstorms moved through the Nampa–Caldwell area the previous evening, bringing strong winds, heavy rain, and hail. Preliminary National Weather Service (NWS) observations recorded gusts of 89 km/h (55 mph) at Boise Airport and 85 km/h (53 mph) at Caldwell Airport.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 struck the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at 13:34 UTC (18:04 local time) on June 27, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 199 km (123.7 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
New activity/unrest was reported for 5 volcanoes from June 18-24, 2026. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 27 volcanoes.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Missoula upgraded Winter Storm Watches to Winter Storm Warnings at 11:04 MDT (17:04 UTC) on June 26, 2026, for four high-elevation zones in central Idaho and southwest Montana, where 10-20 cm (4-8 inches) of heavy wet snow, with isolated amounts up to 30 cm (12 inches), is forecast above about 2 000 m (6 500 feet) over the weekend.
Asteroid (152637) 1997 NC1 will pass Earth at 6.67 lunar distances (about 0.017 AU), or 2.5 million km (1.6 million miles) above Earth’s surface, at 11:16 UTC on June 27, 2026. The object has an estimated diameter between 750–1 650 m (2 460–5 410 feet), making this an unusually close encounter for an object of this size. The Virtual Telescope Project will stream the flyby live at 23:00 UTC on June 26 and 27, offering real-time views as the asteroid reaches peak brightness.
