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!
The Oroville Reservoir reached a record low level of 195.66 m (641.93 feet) above mean sea level on August 5, 2021, forcing authorities in California to shut down their second-largest hydroelectric plant. This is now the lowest level since the nation's tallest…
The River Fire in northern California exploded in size on August 4, 2021, as it burned through the Nevada and Placer counties, triggering multiple evacuations. The fire has so far scorched 566 ha (1 400 acres) of land and is 0% contained. On the same day, the Dixie…
Tropical update for August 5, 2021 by meteorologist Robert Speta of WestPacWx. Image credit: JMA/Himawari-8, RAMMB/CIRA, TW. Acquired at 06:50 UTC on August 5, 2021…
The first two images from Juno spacecraft's June 7, 2021, flyby of Jupiter’s giant moon Ganymede have been received on Earth. This was the closest any spacecraft has come to this moon in a generation. The photos – one from the Jupiter orbiter’s…
Hurricane-force winds swept through the Ulug-Khem region of Tuva, Russia on June 5, 2021, damaging numerous homes and leaving many people without power. According to Tuva civil defense and emergency service, wind gusts reached 140 km/h (87 mph) in Shagonar, damaging…
SETI Institute researchers are reporting that they can now detect showers from the debris in the path of comets that pass close to Earth orbit and are known to return as infrequent as once every 4 000 years. "This creates a situational awareness for potentially…
This year's rainy season in SW Japan has started almost a full month earlier than normal, becoming the 2nd earliest rainy season on record. "It's definitely interesting to watch because the earlier the rainy season front gets toward the north, the…
At least 2 people have been killed after a severe thunderstorm hit the city of Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province on May 10, 2021, turning day into night. According to the Wuhan Emergency Management Bureau, parts of the city encountered a level 10…
Sigfús Steindórsson from Reykjavik, Iceland brings us another amazing video of an eruption in Fagradalsfjall with mesmerizing red skies during a recent cloudy night. Captured from Hafnarfjörður, Reykjavík on May 10, 2021. Here's…
A new study published today in Geophysical Research Letters confirms that Venus' upper atmosphere undergoes puzzling changes over the Sun's 11-year activity cycle. The scientists studied data provided by Parker Solar Probe's first direct measurement of…
