The Watchers team and our contributors bring the latest on extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, space weather, and all things science. We're all about making sense of the natural world and keeping you informed on what’s happening. Got a tip or a question? Hit us up using the form at newstips!
A new hydrothermal eruption was observed at New Zealand's Lake Rotorua at 15:30 UTC on November 27, 2016, prompting an evacuation of at least one house near the lake. The style of the eruption was one which hadn't been seen in Rotorua since about 2000 or…
A very large waterspout, tornado over water, was seen in the Gulf of Valencia, Spain on November 27, 2016 and recorded by numerous witnesses. According to Ametse (Association Meteorologica del Sureste), a severe thunderstorm anchored in the Gulf of Valencia…
A 4.8 km (2.98 miles) wide asteroid named 5143 Heracles will make a close approach to Earth on November 28, 2016, passing 57.2 LD (21.9 million km / 13.6 million miles) from the surface. Heracles will safely flyby our planet at 23:29 UTC at a relative velocity of…
A powerful eruption occurred at Mexico's Popocatépetl at 15:45 UTC on November 25, 2016, followed by another one at 15:54 UTC today. Volcanic ash and gasses from yesterday's eruption moved NE and reached nearly 11.5 km (38 000 feet) above sea level,…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.5 hit Xinjiang, China, on the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, at 14:24 UTC on November 25, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 12 km (7.4 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.3 at a depth of 10 km (6.2…
Hurricane "Otto" has made landfall as a Category 2 storm just before 18:00 UTC on November 24, 2016 near the town of San Juan de Nicaragua in southern Nicaragua, on the border with Costa Rica. A number of people are dead or missing in Costa Rica. Before it…
According to local media reports, a basketball-sized meteorite hit a house in Bengkulu City, Sungai Serut District of Indonesia on Thursday, November 24, 2016. The owner of the house said he was having a casual conversation with his friend when suddenly they heard a…
Earth is under the influence of a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). A sudden escalation in overall planetary geomagnetic response from a favorable solar wind environment and elevated solar wind streams triggered periods of G1 and G2…
A small asteroid named 2016 WW2 will make a close approach to our planet at 0.33 LD (126 720 km / 78 740 miles) from the surface on November 25, 2016. 2016 WW2 is Apollo-class asteroid with an estimated size of 4.2 – 9.4 m (13.7 – 30.8 feet), discovered by Mt….
A very strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M7.0 hit El Salvador at 18:43 UTC on November 24, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 10.3 km (6.2 miles). The epicenter was located, 149.7 km (93.0 miles) SSW of Puerto El Triunfo (population 19…
