Prolonged drought has been affecting the Rio Grande basin for several years. A Satellite loop released on September 15, 2026, showed the declining water levels in the Elephant Butte Reservoir and the smaller Caballo Reservoir to its south over the last 15 years. NASA had earlier reported that the reservoir stood at 1.4% of capacity on July 27, its lowest level since 1971.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Tornado Watch 1 for Kauaʻi County, including Kauaʻi and Niʻihau, and adjacent coastal waters at 16:13 HST on September 7, 2026 (02:13 UTC on September 8), as Hurricane Lowell approached the western Hawaiian Islands. The watch, an exceptionally rare issuance for Hawaiʻi, remains in effect until 04:00 HST (14:00 UTC) on September 8, with several tornadoes possible near Kauaʻi and Niʻihau and a few possible elsewhere across the state.
El Salvador declared a nationwide Red Alert for meteorological and agricultural drought on August 25, while Honduras expanded its drought Red Alert from 75 to 103 municipalities on August 26. Panama also declared a national state of emergency under Resolution No. 102-26 in response to El Niño-related risks, including drought, flooding and landslides. The measures come amid rainfall deficits, prolonged dry periods and increasing water stress as El Niño continues to strengthen.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac expects winter 2026–2027 to be warmer than normal across large parts of the United States while forecasting regional pockets of colder, wetter and snowier conditions. Its August 27 forecast places the main cold corridor from central New England through the Appalachians and Ohio Valley and calls for above-normal snowfall in several eastern and western regions and Alaska.
The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the largest Ebola outbreak ever recorded in the country, with 5 794 confirmed cases and 2 786 deaths reported as of August 26, 2026. Cases have reached 60 health zones across six provinces as sustained transmission continues, according to the World Health Organization.
A strong M6.9 solar flare erupted from Active Region 4513 near the center of the visible solar disk at 10:02 UTC on August 25, 2026, causing an R2 – Moderate radio blackout. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) said the associated CME and a second CME linked to a C4.7 flare and filament eruption later that day contained Earth-directed components, prompting a G2 – Moderate Geomagnetic Storm Watch for August 28. A G1 – Minor watch is in effect for August 27 due to an approaching coronal-hole high-speed stream.
Asteroid 2026 PC6 passed Earth at 0.053 lunar distances (0.00014 AU / about 20 400 km / 12 700 miles) from the center of our planet at 00:50 UTC on August 12, 2026, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (NASA/CNEOS). At the nominal distance, the object passed about 14 000 km (8 700 miles) above Earth’s surface, placing it inside the orbit of geostationary satellites and making it the closest asteroid flyby of the year.
The August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse can be watched live online today through scheduled broadcasts from NASA, ESA, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Exploratorium and Royal Observatory Greenwich. IAC starts at 17:00 UTC, Royal Observatory Greenwich at 17:10 UTC, NASA at 17:15 UTC, and ESA and the Exploratorium at 17:30 UTC, before totality reaches Iceland and Spain.
The Perseid meteor shower will reach its 2026 maximum during the night of August 12–13, with the International Meteor Organization placing the nominal peak between 02:00 and 04:00 UTC on August 13. A New Moon on August 12 will eliminate lunar interference, providing excellent conditions for optical observations.
A total solar eclipse will sweep across the Arctic and into southern Europe on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, bringing up to 2 minutes 18 seconds of totality to parts of Greenland, Iceland, Spain and a small area of northeastern Portugal. As the Moon’s shadow races southeastward, Iceland will witness the event in the late afternoon before totality reaches northern Spain shortly before sunset. The event will be the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Europe since 1999 and the first visible from the Iberian Peninsula in more than a century.
