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.
Asteroid 2026 JO flew past Earth at a distance of 0.347 LD (0.00089 AU / 133 560 km / 83 000 miles), from the center of our planet at 05:04 UTC on May 9, 2026. At its closest, the object was about 126 970 km (78 900 miles) above Earth’s surface.
A moderately strong solar flare measuring M5.7 at its peak erupted from Active Region 4436 at 13:39 UTC on May 10, 2026. The event started at 13:19 and ended at 14:02 UTC.
Seismic activity and sulfur dioxide emissions have increased at Kupreanof volcano in Alaska over recent months, likely due to magmatic intrusion beneath the volcano. Kupreanof is a heavily glaciated stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula with no known historical eruptions. Current data do not indicate an eruption is imminent.
Tropical Storm Hagupit was moving west through Yap State at 22:00 ChST (12:00 UTC) on May 8, 2026, with maximum sustained winds of 70 km/h (45 mph). Tropical Storm Warnings remained in effect for Ulithi, Ngulu, Fais, Yap Proper, and adjacent coastal waters. PAGASA expects the system to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility on May 9 and be named Caloy.
Mayon volcano remained under Alert Level 3 on Friday, May 8, 2026, with PHIVOLCS reporting lava flows in three gullies, elevated sulfur dioxide emissions, volcanic earthquakes, and repeated lava-collapse pyroclastic flow activity. Today’s observations follow a large eruption sequence on May 2, when collapse-generated pyroclastic flows traveled up to 5 km (3.1 miles), generating widespread ashfall across parts of Albay Province and prompting evacuations affecting thousands of residents.
Heavy rain flooded roads across the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León, Mexico, on Thursday, May 7, 2026, damaging dozens of vehicles and disrupting traffic in several municipalities. According to the Nuevo León Civil Protection agency, the rainfall event damaged 42 vehicles and caused electrical incidents, fallen trees, and road closures across the region.
Local police said three hikers died after Dukono volcano erupted on Halmahera Island, North Maluku, Indonesia, at 07:41 WIT (22:41 UTC on May 7) on May 8, 2026, sending volcanic ash about 10 km (6.2 miles) above the summit. Rescue teams evacuated 17 hikers while the search for three others continued.
A landslide-generated tsunami in Tracy Arm, Alaska, reached 481 m (1 578 feet) on August 10, 2025, ranking as the second-highest tsunami runup ever recorded, according to a study published in Science on May 6, 2026. More than 64 million m³ (2.3 billion ft³) of rock collapsed near South Sawyer Glacier.
Nighttime tornadoes and severe thunderstorms tore across central and western Mississippi on Wednesday night, May 6, 2026, damaging hundreds of homes and injuring at least 17 people, according to state emergency officials. Authorities reported concentrated damage in Bogue Chitto, where a trailer park sustained heavy destruction.
More than 301 mm (11.9 inches) of rain fell in parts of South Africa’s Garden Route after an intense cut-off low brought flooding, evacuations, road closures, and infrastructure damage across the Western and Eastern Cape from May 5–7, 2026. At least one person died in Knysna, hundreds were affected in Garden Route shelter operations, and emergency shelters were opened across flood-affected parts of Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape.
