• Significant winter storm set to impact the West, bringing heavy snow, U.S.

    ByTeo Blašković

    An impending winter storm, driven by an upper-level trough and strong cold front from the northeastern Pacific and western Canada, is forecasted to deliver significant snowfall and strong gusty winds to much of the West in the coming days. Heavy snow is expected in the Central Rockies and Cascades through Monday, extending to the Sierra and the Northern Rockies/Great Basin by Tuesday, with over a foot of snow possible in many areas.

  • Major network outages in U.S. following two X-class solar flares

    ByTeo Blašković

    A widespread network outage was reported in the United States on Thursday morning, February 22, 2024, following two major eruptions on the Sun, an X1.8 flare at 23:07 UTC on February 21 and X1.7 at 06:32 UTC on February 22. Both erupted from Active Region 3590.

  • Xinjiang records lowest temperature in history at -52.3 °C (-62.1 °F), China

    ByTeo Blašković

    Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has set a new record for low temperatures, reaching -52.3 °C (-62.14 °F) in Fuyun County, leading to the death of numerous birds and surpassing a cold record held since 1960. Amidst the Chinese Lunar New Year’s return, this severe cold has resulted in extensive traffic disruptions and emergency responses across the region.

  • Extreme cold event in BC causes near-total crop failure, Canada

    ByTeo Blašković

    The British Columbia wine industry is bracing for unprecedented crop losses due to an extreme cold event in January 2024, with preliminary estimates forecasting a production decrease of 97 – 99%, resulting in industry-wide revenue losses between $440 – 445 million.

  • Major X2.5 solar flare erupts from AR 3576, producing large CME

    ByTeo Blašković

    An impulsive solar flare measuring X2.5 erupted from Active Region 3576 (beta-gamma) at 06:53 UTC on February 16, 2024. The event started at 06:42 and ended at 06:58 UTC. This is the fourth strongest solar flare of Solar Cycle 25 — after X5.0 on December 31, 2023, X3.3 on February 9, 2024, and X2.8 on December 14, 2023.

  • Major wildfire in Christchurch’s Port Hills, state of emergency declared, New Zealand

    ByTeo Blašković

    Fire and Emergency New Zealand reported a large vegetation fire covering about 650 ha (1 606 acres) in the Port Hills near Christchurch on February 15, 2024. A state of emergency was declared the previous day, with 130 firefighters, 11 helicopters, and heavy machinery deployed. Evacuations affected 80 properties, though no homes were lost. The blaze remains uncontained, and a public health warning was issued due to smoke.

  • Massive power outages hit Victoria during violent thunderstorms, Australia

    ByTeo Blašković

    Violent thunderstorms struck Australia’s east coast on February 13, 2024, leading to significant damage and disruptions. The storms caused the shutdown of AGL’s Loy Yang A power station in Victoria, leaving approximately 590 000 homes and businesses without electricity. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) was forced to cap electricity prices at A$16,600 per megawatt hour, a significant increase from the usual A$200. Efforts to restore power are ongoing, with some customers already reconnected.

  • Intense hailstorms hit UAE after cloud seeding operations

    ByTeo Blašković

    Heavy rain accompanied by lightning and intense hailstorms hit the city of Al Ain and other parts of UAE on the morning of February 12, 2024, causing impressive hail accumulations. This is reportedly the strongest hailstorm Al Ain has seen in 40 years. It comes after NMC conducted a series of cloud seeding flights.