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.
An isolated severe supercell passed over parts of southern Turkey on Sunday, November 19, 2017, dumping heavy rain and large hailstones, and producing enormous hail accumulations in the port city of Mersin, on the Mediterranean coast. The rain started falling in the…
A powerful tornado swept through parts of Kelapa Dua island, north of Jakarta, Indonesia on Sunday, November 19, 2017. This is the second damaging tornado to hit the islands within a week and it comes after three waterspouts were spotted in waters off the Thousand…
A very strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M7.0 hit the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia at 22:43 UTC (09:43 local time) on November 19, 2017. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting M7.0 at a depth of 12 km (7.4…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.4 hit the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia at 09:25 UTC (20:25 local time) on November 19, 2017. The agency is reporting a depth of 25.3 km (15.8 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.5 at a depth of 10 km (6.2…
After record daily rainfall on November 16, the city of Reno, Nevada has also set its new record for the greatest precipitation total in any calendar year. A record rainfall of 20.57 mm (0.81 inches) was set at Reno-Tahoe International Airport on November 16, 2017,…
Southern Vietnam, hit by devastating floods produced by Typhoon "Damrey" on November 4, is bracing for yet another tropical cyclone landfall this week. Heavy rain, floods and landslides are expected over the weekend. Tropical Storm "Kirogi"…
A new ice-cauldron has formed this week within the Öræfajökull volcano caldera, prompting the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) to raise the aviation color code for the volcano to yellow. The last eruptive episode of this volcano started in…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by CENC (China) as M6.9 hit Milein County, Nyingchi City, Tibet (SW China / India border region) at 22:34 UTC on November 17, 2017 (06:34 local time, November 18). Both USGS and EMSC report it as M6.3 at a depth of 10 km…
The Leonid meteor shower is a major meteor shower (Class I), running annually from November 5 to December 3. This year, it will reach its maximum rate of activity on the night of November 17 and the morning of November 18. The maximum rate of meteors expected to be…
A rare tropical cyclone-like storm dubbed 'medicane' formed in the Ionian sea on November 17, 2017, and is affecting the region with heavy rain and strong winds. This strengthening storm is expected to hit the western coast of Greece on Saturday, November 18…
