2022 saw a record-breaking number of hailstorms in Europe with 8 224 large hail reports. That is 2 791 large hail reports more than in 2021, which was already a record-breaking year. France had the most reports with 2 461 and was also the country with the largest economic impact of 4.8 billion €.
Seismic activity around Chile’s Lascar volcano has increased over the past 2 days, causing Sernageomin to raise its Alert Level to Orange. The security perimeter around the crater was expanded to 10 km (6.2 miles), with the community urged to avoid unnecessary exposure to potential dangers. The seismicity is primarily linked to fluid dynamics within the volcanic system, which could be a result of the destabilization of a remnant magmatic body. This activity could lead to explosive events, potentially causing ashfall in the area.
According to a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the inner core of the Earth may have stopped rotating faster than the rest of the planet around 2009 and then turned in an opposite direction.
The minimum temperature at Jingtao automated weather station in the town of Amur, Mohe City in Heilongjiang Province, China fell to -53.0°C (-63.4°F) on January 22, 2023, marking the lowest temperate in the province and the lowest ever observed by the Chinese meteorological system.
The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) reported that beginning in July 2022, the seismic network at Ijen volcano in East Java, Indonesia began detecting increasing numbers of shallow volcanic earthquakes and earthquake signals characteristic of emissions, indicating increasing pressure at shallow depths within the hydrothermal system.
A powerful low pressure system, named Storm Gerard by Météo France, brought heavy rainfall, strong winds, and thunderstorms to northern and western France on Sunday, January 15, and Monday, January 16, 2023, resulting in significant weather-related incidents and causing casualties and damage. This is the 22nd named storm of the 2022/23 European windstorm season, including two ex-hurricanes (Danielle and Martin).
Residents in parts of central Latvia were urged to evacuate their homes on January 15, 2023, due to the worst flooding the state has seen since 1981.
New research from the Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO) has found evidence for the correspondence of the “Extended Solar Cycle” (ESC) to the Sun’s Hale magnetic cycle. The research emphasizes the intrinsic power of synoptic observations, particularly at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain such efforts.
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption on January 15, 2022, has set a new record for the greatest concentration of lightning ever detected. According to data from Vaisala’s Global Lightning Dataset GLD360, nearly 400 000 lightning events were detected within just six hours of the eruption, making it a truly exceptional phenomenon.
Solar activity increased over the past 4 days, with numerous C- and M-class solar flares and one X-class flare. With now geoeffective AR 3182, the source of the X1.2 solar flare on January 6, developing unstable ‘beta-gamma-delta’ magnetic configuration, the chances for more X-class solar flares have increased to 30%.
