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!
At least 21 people were killed in flash floods caused by an extremely powerful storm that hit the country late Saturday evening, August 6, 2016. A state of emergency was declared in capital Skopje and neighboring districts. Hundreds of homes and vehicles were…
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most prolific annual meteor showers and this year it is expected to peak in outburst mode on the night of August 11 and the morning of August 12 (UTC). This means the shower has a great potential to be spectacular, with up to…
.jpg){kind=small}
New activity/unrest was observed at 6 volcanoes between July 27 and August 2, 2016. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 14 volcanoes. New activity/unrest: Bezymianny, Central Kamchatka (Russia) | Chikurachki, Paramushir Island (Russia) |…
A strong and deep earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.3 hit near the island of Iwo Jima, Japan at 16:24 UTC on August 4, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 530 km (329 miles). USGS is reporting M6.2 at a depth of 516.7 km (321 km). According to the USGS,…
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit Jujuy, Argentina at 14:15 UTC on August 4, 2016. The agency reported a depth of 254 km (158 miles). According to the USGS, the epicenter was located 48.6 km (30.2 miles) WSW of La Quiaca (Population: 14 751),…
A new Kreutz family sungrazing comet appeared in SOHO's LASCO C3 coronagraph imagery around 00:40 UTC on August 2, 2016. The comet made its closest approach to the Sun around 05:15 UTC on August 4, becoming one of SOHO's top 10 brightest sungrazers. Its…
Following a lunar transit from 11:13 to 12:18 UTC on August 2, 2016, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) did not go back into Science mode. More than 24 hours after the anomaly occurred, mission managers said the spacecraft is currently in inertial mode….
Tropical Storm "Earl" formed on August 2 near Jamaica and strengthened into a hurricane by 21:00 UTC on August 3. Earl will make landfall over Belize within a couple of hours, and start weakening as it moves toward Mexico. Earl is bringing strong winds and…
Roman Tregubov, a graduate of the Novosibirsk State Technical University, grabbed his cell phone and managed to record a video of what appears to be ball lightning – a rare and mostly unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon. The event took place last month,…
A dramatic rise in the number of hospitalized people diagnosed with anthrax was reported in Siberia's Yamal Peninsula, Russia on August 2, 2016. In total, 90 people, including 54 children, are in hospital as of August 2 in what is now the first anthrax outbreak…
