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.
Tropical Storm "Tembin," known as Vinta in the Philippines, formed late December 20, 2017, east of Philippines as the 27th named storm of the 2017 Pacific typhoon season. Landfall is expected over Surigao del Sur late December 21 or early December 22…
New activity/unrest was reported for 7 volcanoes between December 13 – 19, 2017. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 12 volcanoes. New activity/unrest: Agung, Bali (Indonesia) | Bezymianny, Central Kamchatka (Russia) | Kanlaon, Philippines |…
A new study published in Nature Communications this week reveals how atmospheric ions, produced by the energetic cosmic rays raining down through the atmosphere, helps the growth and formation of cloud condensation nuclei – the seeds necessary for forming clouds in…
According to the Laboratory for X-ray Solar Astronomy of the PN Lebedev Physical Institute in Russia, the solar activity cycle has, by all indications, practically reached its minimum 1.5 years ahead of expected time. Given that the previous solar maximum in 2012…
The death toll in the Philippines caused by heavy rain, floods and landslides produced by Tropical Cyclone "Kai-Tak" (Urduja) rose to 46 on Thursday, December 20, 2017. 28 people are still missing. Meanwhile, another tropical system has organized into a…
Heavy snow and freezing rain caused extensive damage to power lines across British Columbia and Alberta, Canada on December 19, 2017, leaving 75 000 customers without power. At least two people were killed in southern Alberta. According to BC Hydro, the hardest hit…
A major eruption started at Bezymianni volcano, Kamchatka, Russia at 03:41 UTC on December 20, 2017. According to Tokyo VAAC, volcanic ash plume is reaching 15.2 km (50 000 feet) above sea level and drifting NE. In terms of ash cloud height, this is the strongest…
A bright fireball lit up the night sky over Lake Michigan at 05:53 UTC on December 19, 2017 (23:53 CST, December 18). The event lasted several seconds. The American Meteor Organization (AMO) received 61 reports. The fireball was seen over Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio,…
A quick-moving severe thunderstorm accompanied by destructive, golf-sized hail and strong winds hit Victoria, Australia on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, leaving 100 000 homes without power. The Victoria office of Bureau of Meteorology said an extraordinary amount of…
Six people have been confirmed dead in central Malawi on Sunday, December 17, 2017, after heavy rains that started on Friday caused severe floods. More than 200 homes were affected and over 1 000 people left homeless. Heavy rains also hit the country's north…
