• Tropical Cyclone Errol Inching Toward Western Australia

    Tropical Cyclone Errol formed off the northern coast of Western Australia Friday and gained strength throughout the day Sunday. It will have maximum sustained winds near 75 mph when it affects Indonesia. Errol is expected to cause strong winds and heavy rain over the

  • Eruption of magnetic canopy of sunspot 1190

    The magnetic canopy of sunspot 1190 erupted on April 15th, producing an M-class solar flare (SDO movie). The brief blast did not, however, hurl a cloud of plasma toward Earth. NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of more M-flares during the next 24 hours.

  • WISE preliminary data release – 57% of the sky

    Finally, WISE team has released a data from its sky-mapping mission representing 57 percent of the sky as seen by WISE. This preliminary release will allow astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts worldwide to explore the sky as seen by WISE. It will also allow the WISE te

  • US farmers threaten by worst drought since 1930’s

    Rainfall over the next six weeks or so will be extremely critical. A drier-than-normal forecast through May does not bode well. Any hits to U.S. agriculture amid rising food and gas prices will only add to the strain on the wallets of families and individuals across

  • Dozens tornadoes rip through U.S. southwest

    At least nine people were killed as powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes tore through the southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley Thursday night.The tiny town of Tushka, Oklahoma, was among the hardest hit locations, struck head-on by a tornado Thursday evening

  • Asteroid 2011 GP59 – Close Earth-Moon Flyby

    Newly-discovered asteroid 2011 GP59 is flying past Earth today, April 15th, not far beyond the orbit of the Moon (1.4 LD). There’s no danger of a collision, but the 50-meter space rock is remarkable: It is elongated and spinning once every 7.5 minutes. This causes

  • Dust blew from Africa to Scandinavia

    Atmospheric scientists track aerosols—tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in our atmosphere—because they have important impacts on weather, climate, and human health. Mineral dust is one of the most abundant aerosols, a product of winds blowing across our

  • Cuba is dealing with the worst drought in 50 years

    Cuba is facing its worst drought in half a century, with tens of thousands of families almost entirely reliant on water trucks for essential supplies.The drought started two years ago, and reservoirs are now down to a fifth of their normal levels. The government is prov

  • State of emergency declared for Canadian flooding

    The annual spring floods have already taken their toll across the Canadian Prairie Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, where states of emergency have been declared. This flooding has claimed the lives of at least two people, both in southern Manitoba

  • Rising rivers swell across US Midwest

    Waters continued rising in April 2011 in the U.S. Midwest, according to a NASA statement. On April 13, the Advanced Hydrological Prediction Service (AHPS) of the U.S. National Weather Service warned of flooding along the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. The AHPS