Southeastern Texas experienced severe flooding this week, affecting areas from College Station to Houston. The flooding has led to the overflowing of rivers, including the Trinity and San Jacinto, causing significant disruptions and leading to urgent evacuations. Heavy rain and flooding continued into Friday, May 3, 2024.
Tropical Cyclone “Hidaya” formed on May 1, 2024, north of Madagascar, Comoros, and Mayotte as the 9th named storm of the 2024/24 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. The cyclone peaked around 00:00 UTC on May 3 at 148 km/h (92 mph) but is now starting to come down, albeit slowly. Widespread heavy rainfall is forecast in Tanzania, starting this evening, May 3, and continuing until Sunday morning, May 5. Severe flooding is likely.
Two stealth coronal mass ejections (CMEs) impacted Earth over the past 24 hours, sparking G1 – Minor to G3 – Strong geomagnetic storming. A G3 – Strong (or greater) Geomagnetic Storm Warning remains in effect through 21:00 UTC on May 2, 2024.
A large landslide destroyed a significant portion of the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway in Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, China, at around 02:10 local time on May 1, 2024. The collapse caused 23 vehicles to plummet down a steep slope, igniting some in flames and resulting in 48 fatalities and 30 injuries as of May 2, 2024.
A powerful atmospheric river has caused destructive flooding across Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil since Monday, April 29, 2024, leading to the deaths of at least 55 people, with more than 70 others missing. The state governor described the situation as the worst disaster in the state’s history.
Another high-level eruption started at Indonesia’s Ruang volcano at 18:15 UTC on April 29, 2024 (01:15 LT, April 30), producing an ash column to an estimated height of about 19.2 km (63 000 feet) above sea level. Authorities raised the Alert Level to 4 and the Aviation Color Code to Red. This powerful eruption comes just 2 weeks after a similar eruption on April 16.
A severe tornado outbreak on Saturday, April 27, 2024, has resulted in the deaths of at least four individuals and inflicted significant destruction across several cities in Oklahoma, marking one of the most destructive days in the state’s recent history.
A destructive multi-vortex tornado, accompanied by heavy rain and large hail up to 12 cm (4.72 inches) in diameter, struck the Guangzhou megacity (population 18.6 million) at approximately 15:00 LT on April 27, 2024, leaving at least five people dead, 33 injured and 141 commercial building damaged. Guangzhou is located in south China’s Guangdong province and is one of the country’s three largest cities.
A destructive tornado outbreak with at least 78 tornadoes impacted the U.S. Plains on Friday, April 26, 2024, leaving a trail of damage and more than a dozen injuries. The outbreak occurred as a part of a multi-day severe weather threat covering over 60 million Americans. The threat of EF2 – EF5 tornadoes will continue into Sunday, April 28.
A severe weather warning covers the Plains, threatening over 55 million residents with strong tornadoes, hail the size of baseballs, and damaging wind gusts. The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch as the region braces for potentially destructive weather through the weekend.
