A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 CX1 impacted Earth over the English Channel between England and France, Europe at 02:59 UTC on February 13, 2023. This small asteroid was discovered just several hours before impact, making it the 7th asteroid to be discovered before impacting Earth.
Thousands of buildings in New Zealand’s Auckland area are currently unsafe for living after the region was hit by extreme rainfall and severe flooding at the end of January. The amount of rain that fell in a matter of days made January 2023 Auckland’s wettest month in at least the last 170 years. The flooding has put the public’s focus on nature-based alternatives to traditional stormwater systems.
A powerful earthquake registered by the USGS as M7.8 hit the highly populated Turkey – Syria border region at 01:17 UTC (04:17 local time) on Monday, February 6, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 17.9 km (11.1 miles). EMSC reports M7.8 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). Numerous moderate to very strong aftershocks were registered, including M6.7 at 01:28 and M7.5 at 10:24 UTC.
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 €.
The presence of a low level jet (LLJ), or strong wind in the lower atmosphere, combined with tropical moisture to create persistent heavy rain in the Auckland area on Friday, January 27, 2023, resulting in widespread severe flooding, destruction and casualties.
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.
On January 16, 2023, Iowa experienced a rare meteorological event as two tornadoes touched down in the eastern part of the state, marking the first January tornadoes in Iowa in 56 years. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the last time Iowa saw January tornadoes was in 1967 — with a total of 13 tornadoes during the month. While tornadoes are a relatively common occurrence in Iowa, with peak season typically taking place in May, January tornadoes are a rare phenomenon.
A massive Christmas winter storm buried parts of western New York with up to 109 cm (43 inches) of snow, leaving at least 27 people dead. Sadly, authorities said the death toll may rise because some people have been trapped in cars for more than two days. Nationwide, the death toll stands at 49, as of late December 26.
A massive and historic winter storm affecting much of the United States has left at least 37 people dead from December 21 to 24, 2022, and more than 1.1 million customers without power.
A high-level eruption occurred at Indonesia’s Semeru volcano on December 4, 2022, prompting authorities to raise the Alert Level from III to IV. The last major eruption at this volcano took place on December 4, 2021, leaving 51 people dead and several hundred others injured.
