Tropical Depression "Ambo" — the first named storm of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season — has developed east of Mindanao, Philippines, on May 10, 2020. As of 02:00 UTC (10:00 LT) on May 12, the storm is almost stationary with maximum sustained winds of 56…
Heavy rains lashing Rwanda over the past few days have led to destructive floods and mudslides in which at least 72 people lost their lives. Officials confirmed extensive damage to infrastructure, livelihood, and properties. Rwanda has witnessed weather disturbances…
An intense Arctic outbreak has brought rare May snow and record cold temperatures to parts of the northeast U.S. and Ontario, Canada, over the weekend. Cold temperatures are expected to remain for much of this week before warmer air returns to the eastern U.S., but…
A fireball exploded over Washington state, U.S. at around 01:57 UTC on May 7, 2020 (18:57 PDT, May 6), with a dozen eyewitness reports submitted to the American Meteor Society (AMS). A loud and deep boom was reported during the event, which startled many people…
Astronomers monitoring Comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) spotted a powerful outburst from the comet on May 5. Such outbursts usually indicate a fragmentation, but scientists are hopeful that this could just be a volatile comet. The comet is approaching Earth and the Sun– its…
The severe drought in North Island, New Zealand– the worst in 50 years in some areas– has prompted the Auckland Council's Emergency Committee to introduce mandatory water restrictions, which will be effective across the region beginning May 16, 2020. This…
A severe storm packing strong winds up to 128 km/h (80 mph) lashed Western Australia on May 5, 2020, toppling trees and power grids which left some 55 000 homes without electricity. As of May 6, about 25 500 homes are still impacted by the season's first storm,…
Intense Arctic air outbreak is expected over much of Ontario, Canada, and the eastern parts of the United States– possibly bringing record cold temperatures in some areas late this week into the next. The cold outbreak may also allow for some rare May snow in parts…
A new study shows that natural hazards on Earth, specifically earthquakes and tsunamis, can create much more disturbances in the ionosphere than previously assumed. The researchers studied the catastrophic 2011 M9.0 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and found…
A study by an international team of researchers found considerable variation in trends even among adjacent sites but an average decline of terrestrial insect abundance by ~9% per decade and an increase of freshwater insect abundance by ~11% per decade. This study…
