Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, co-chaired by NOAA/NASA, released its latest forecast for Solar Cycle 25 (SC25) on December 9, 2019. The forecast consensus: a peak in July 2025 (+/- 8 months), with a smoothed sunspot number (SSN) of 115. The panel agreed that SC25…
Inquiries with tour operators indicate that 47 people were on the island at the time of the eruption. 31 patients are currently being treated at 7 hospitals and three have been treated and discharged. Some of the patients are reportedly in critical condition. 5…
An impulsive, short-lived eruption occurred at New Zealand's White Island volcano at 01:11 UTC (14:11 LT) on December 9, 2019. The Volcanic Alert Level was raised to 3 and Aviation Color Code to Orange. The eruption affected the crater floor where up to 50…
Tropical Cyclone "Belna" is expected to make landfall between Mahajanga and Cape Saint-Andre, Madagascar just before 18:00 UTC on December 9, 2019, with maximum sustained winds up to 170 km/h (105 mph) and gusts to 205 km/h (130 mph). Depending on the…
A new explosive-effusive activity is taking place at the Japanese Nishinoshima volcano in the Izu-Bonin Volcanic Arch. Thermal anomalies were detected by satellites and confirmed by Japanese coastguard overflight on December 6. The explosions are currently located…
Video surveillance cameras show a gradual intensification of Strombolian activity at the New Southeast Crater of Etna volcano, Italy, beginning at 18:00 UTC on December 6, 2019. The activity was already underway at about 16:00 UTC, producing small and discontinuous…
An eruption signature was detected at Semisopochnoi as strong tremor on local seismic and in regional infrasound networks on Adak Island, Alaska Volcano Observatory reported at 10:25 UTC on December 7, 2019. The event started at 09:26 UTC (00:26 AKST) on December 7…
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit Tonga region at 13:04 UTC on December 6, 2019. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth. The epicenter was located 164 km (101) WNW of Hihifo…
Tropical Cyclone "Belna" formed December 5, 2019, as the second named storm of the 2019/20 Southwest Indian Ocean tropical season. The cyclone is intensifying and is expected to reach intense tropical cyclone status before making landfall over Madagascar. …
Very cold temperatures are expected to enter the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest during the beginning of next week, with the coldest temperatures forecast to occur on Wednesday, December 11, 2019. High temperatures below zero and low temperatures around -20…
