A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit the Southwestern Ryukyu Islands, Japan at 04:04 UTC (13:04 LT) on July 3, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6 miles). EMSC is reporting the same depth and magnitude. There is no tsunami threat from this earthquake.
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.2 hit Halmahera, Indonesia, at 02:31 UTC on July 3, 2026. The agency is reporting a depth of 121 km (75 miles). EMSC is reporting the same depth and magnitude.
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed parts of eastern South Dakota, southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa under an Enhanced Risk of severe thunderstorms through Thursday, July 2, 2026. A broader Slight Risk extends from the Dakotas into the western Great Lakes and includes western Kansas, the Tennessee Valley and the southern Appalachians. Damaging wind gusts and large hail are expected to be the primary severe weather hazards across the affected regions.
At least 59 people have died in flooding across the Ivory Coast since the start of the rainy season in mid-May, the government said on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Days of heavy rain triggered deadly flooding and landslides in Abidjan, in Attécoubé claiming 20 lives. Officials said some residents had returned to high-risk sites after previously being relocated.
Hungary recorded its highest temperature since observations began on June 30, 2026, when the temperature reached 42°C (107.6°F) in Szécsény, surpassing the previous national record of 41.9°C (107.4°F) measured in Kiskunhalas in 2007. The same heat wave also established a new all-time temperature record in Budapest and rewrote numerous national and capital daily maximum and minimum temperature records between June 29 and July 1, according to HungaroMet.
Mutnovsky volcano in southern Kamchatka, Russia, produced an ash explosion at 20:19 UTC on July 1, 2026 (08:19 LT on July 2), marking its first documented eruption since July 3, 2013. KVERT reported that the approximately 3-minute event generated an ash plume up to 3.5 km (11 500 feet) above sea level, extending about 10 km (6 miles) west of the volcano.
Tropical Storm Bavi is forecast to undergo rapid intensification from late July 2, 2026, and become a super typhoon as it approaches the Northern Mariana Islands. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) forecast issued at 09:00 UTC calls for 1-minute sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph) near the system’s peak intensity around July 5.
Tropical Storm Douglas formed over the eastern North Pacific Ocean at 21:00 UTC on July 1, 2026, and became the fourth named storm of the 2026 eastern Pacific hurricane season. The cyclone is located well west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, and is expected to remain over open waters while weakening into a post-tropical remnant low by July 3.
Slovakia set a new national all-time temperature record of 41°C (105.8°F) at Turňa nad Bodvou on June 29, 2026, as a late-June heat wave brought record daytime and overnight warmth to the country. The minimum temperature at Bratislava–Koliba fell only to 26.3°C (79.3°F) on June 27, the highest June minimum recorded within the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) network since 1951.
A rare, exceptionally strong positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is influencing Australia’s winter weather, enhancing rainfall across parts of eastern Australia while reducing natural snowfall in alpine regions as the Southern Hemisphere’s belt of westerly winds shifts farther south.
