A tornado touched down in Lonoke County, Arkansas, on Sunday, April 20, 2025, causing significant damage and leaving over 1 000 customers without power. At least six tornadoes were reported across five states, downing trees and power lines across the region.
Around 41 000 years ago, Earth’s magnetic field weakened by up to 90 percent during a geomagnetic excursion known as the Laschamps event. This rare event reduced the planet’s natural shielding against solar and cosmic radiation, exposing the surface to increased ultraviolet energy. A new study combining space weather modeling and archaeological evidence shows that early humans adapted to these extreme conditions through the use of ochre, clothing, and caves, while Neanderthals may have lacked such protective strategies, which may have contributed to their extinction.
At least 15 tornadoes touched down in Iowa and Nebraska on April 17, 2025, as a severe weather system swept through the region. Tornadoes were confirmed in Omaha, Nebraska, and Essex, Iowa, damaging homes, toppling power lines, and causing significant disruption to local communities.
A late-season winter storm is forecast to deliver up to 60 cm (2 feet) of snow across parts of the Rocky Mountains through April 19, 2025, prompting winter storm alerts from Montana to Colorado. Hazardous driving conditions across the Rockies are expected through late week.
Nearly 40 million people from Texas to Michigan are under threat of severe weather as an amplifying trough begins affecting the central United States on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The system is forecast to bring strong thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and damaging winds, with the associated cold front expected to dominate weather conditions through Saturday, April 19, from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes.
Tropical Cyclone Tam, named by the Fiji Meteorological Service on April 15, 2025, is moving southeast and will bring severe weather to New Zealand’s Upper North Island beginning April 16. The center of the storm is expected to remain west of Cape Reinga, but heavy rain, strong winds, and dangerous coastal conditions are forecast to impact North Island in the days ahead.
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M5.2 struck near Julian, San Diego County, at 17:08 UTC (10:08 local time) on April 14, 2025, shaking large areas of Southern California. The agency reports a depth of 14.3 km (9 miles).
A large plume of Saharan dust is moving across the Mediterranean Sea into southern and central Europe, with peak concentrations expected on April 16. The event is likely to reduce air quality and may cause “blood rain” in areas affected by rainfall.
Chinese authorities warned citizens weighing less than 50 kg (110 lb) to stay indoors as a large-scale low-pressure system moving in from Mongolia brought record-breaking winds exceeding 150 km/h (93 mph) to parts of northern China. Over 499 weather stations broke April wind records as the system moved southeast through the weekend, causing widespread damage and placing millions under severe weather alerts.
At least two people died while five others were injured in Delhi on Friday, April 11, 2025, as severe dust storms hit the region, downing trees and power lines, reducing visibility, creating dangerous travel conditions on roads, and disrupting hundreds of flights.
