I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
Two teenage girls died and a 40-year-old woman remained missing as of June 17, 2026 after four members of the same family became trapped by rising water near the dam at Springfield Lake in Missouri at 16:30 LT on June 14. A 12-year-old was rescued shortly after the incident, while search operations involving more than 40 responders continued for the missing woman.
Tropical Storm Arthur formed about 100 km (60 miles) east-northeast of Port O’Connor, Texas on June 17, 2026 and is forecast to move northeastward along the Gulf Coast before tracking inland over southwestern Louisiana.
A Moderate Risk (Level 4 of 5) for severe thunderstorms has been issued for parts of Indiana and Illinois through June 17, 2026. Wind gusts of over 120 km/h (75 mph), damaging hail and multiple tornadoes are forecast across the region as the storm system moves through the Midwest.
Heavy rainfall, flash flooding, storm surge, and isolated tornadoes are expected across portions of the Gulf Coast as Potential Tropical Cyclone One tracks along the Texas coast on June 17, 2026. While the system is unlikely to develop into a tropical cyclone, it could bring rainfall totals of up to 500 mm (20 inches) to some areas along with the severe weather.
PHIVOLCS reported that the M7.8 earthquake off southern Mindanao, which caused dozens of fatalities and widespread damage, raised sections of the coastline in Sarangani and Davao Occidental provinces by as much as 2 m (6.6 feet). Authorities and environmental teams observed shoreline expansion reaching up to 200 m (656 feet) in some locations, exposing coral reefs and marine ecosystems that had previously remained underwater.
15 campers were rescued in Oklahoma after getting stranded by floodwaters near Littlefields in Cherokee County on Sunday, June 14, 2026.
Heavy rainfall is forecast from South Texas into the lower Mississippi Valley this week. Moderate Risk excessive rainfall outlooks remain in effect across parts of the Gulf Coast as multiple rounds of thunderstorms develop within an unusually moist tropical air mass. Rainfall totals could reach 100 to 150 mm (4 to 6 inches) in some areas, with locally higher amounts possible from June 15 to 17, 2026.
Multiple heat advisories were issued across portions of California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada on June 15, 2026. Temperatures are forecast to exceed 40°C (104°F) and could reach up to 44.4°C (112°F) in Trinity County, California.
More than 160 years after the M7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake, tectonic stress along Southern California’s two dominant fault systems has reached record levels, according to a new study that reconstructs 1 000 years of earthquake activity across the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto faults.
A giant scorpion that lived more than 410 million years ago may have been one of the earliest apex predators on Earth and could have spent much of its life in water, according to a new study published in Palaeontology. Researchers re-examined the fossil of the arthropod Praearcturus gigas and concluded that it was a giant scorpion rather than a crustacean, resolving a debate that has persisted for more than 150 years.
