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.
A surge of subtropical moisture is forecast to bring moderate to heavy rain to southern and central California on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, with rain spreading north on Thursday, January 1, 2026. A stronger system with a re-intensified atmospheric river is expected to make landfall early Friday, January 2, bringing heavier precipitation along the northern and central California coast.
A coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with an M4.2 solar flare from Region 4317 is expected to produce a G1 – Minor geomagnetic storm as it grazes Earth late on December 31 into early January 1, 2026.
Two paroxysmal eruptions occurred at Mount Etna’s Northeast Crater on December 27, 2025, marking the first major eruptive episode from this crater in almost 28 years. The events produced lava fountains up to 500 m (1 640 feet), eruptive columns rising over 10 km (6 miles) above sea level, and a short lava flow from the nearby Voragine Crater. Activity gradually declined by December 28, with continued strombolian explosions and weak effusion.
The Iowa State Patrol responded to 31 crashes during extreme winter weather on December 28, 2025, as snow, high winds, and whiteout conditions spread across the state. One person was killed, and several others were injured while visibility dropped to near zero on major highways, including Interstate 35.
A powerful winter storm named Johannes swept across the Nordic countries over the weekend, killing three people in Sweden and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity across Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Sweden’s Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) issued widespread alerts for strong winds as the system moved north. The storm, known as Hannes in Finland, also caused major travel disruptions, grounding flights and halting rail and ferry traffic.
A high-pressure natural gas transmission pipeline ruptured near Ridge Route Road and Pine Crest Place in Castaic, Los Angeles County, at about 16:20 LT on December 27, 2025 (00:20 UTC on December 28), prompting a shelter-in-place advisory and a full closure of Interstate 5 until about 21:00 LT. SoCalGas confirmed its crews isolated the damaged section, stopped the leak, and reported no ignition or explosion.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.6 hit near Yilan, Taiwan, at 15:05 UTC (23:05 local time) on December 27, 2025. The agency reported a depth of 67.5 km (42 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.6 at a depth of 68 km. No tsunami warning was issued.
Etna’s eruptive activity intensified rapidly between December 24 and 27, 2025, culminating in short-lived lava fountains about 200 m (650 feet) high and a new lava flow from the upper Voragine crater toward the Valle del Bove. INGV Etna Observatory (OE) raised the Aviation Color Code to Red on December 27 as tremor and infrasound amplitudes reached very high levels.
New activity/unrest was reported for 4 volcanoes from December 17 to 23, 2025. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 19 volcanoes.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit near Yujing, Taiwan, at 09:47 UTC (17:47 local time) on December 24, 2025. The agency reported a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), while EMSC reported M6.0 at a depth of 12 km (7.4 miles). There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.
