• Strong atmospheric river brings heavy rainfall and flooding across Southern California over Christmas

    A major atmospheric river swept across Southern California from late December 24, 2025, into Christmas Day, December 25, triggering widespread flash floods, evacuations, debris flows, and power outages. Multiple counties including Los Angeles and Ventura were put under a State of Emergency. Rainfall totals reached 75–150 mm (3–6 inches) in coastal and valley areas, with up to 250 mm (10 inches) in higher terrain of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, prompting officials to urge residents to avoid travel.

  • Washington state in the middle of a historic crisis as flooding impacts continue

    Historic flooding in December 2025 placed Washington state in the middle of a statewide crisis, with impacts ongoing and damage assessments still underway as of December 17. Prolonged heavy rainfall has inundated communities, damaged levees and transportation infrastructure, and forced large-scale evacuations across multiple counties. At least one person died after driving into deep floodwaters.

  • Major M7.6 earthquake hits near the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, hazardous tsunami waves possible

    A major earthquake registered by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and USGS as M7.6 struck off the east coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan, at 14:15 UTC (23:15 JST) on December 8, 2025. Both agencies are reporting a depth of 50 km (31 miles). According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), hazardous tsunami waves are possible within 1 000 km (620 miles) of the epicenter.

  • Exceptionally rare Tropical Cyclone Senyar kills more than 300 across Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand

    A low-pressure area developed over the Strait of Malacca on November 22, 2025, and gradually organized into Cyclonic Storm Senyar on November 26. The rare low-latitude system made landfalls in northern Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, producing extreme rainfall and catastrophic flooding across Indonesia, Malaysia, and southern Thailand. At least 316 people were killed and thousands displaced before Senyar weakened into a low-pressure remnant on November 28.

  • Hayli Gubbi’s first eruption in at least 12 000 years grounds flights across India and the Middle East

    Ash and sulfur dioxide released by Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi volcano, erupting for the first time in at least 12 000 years, disrupted regional air travel between November 24 and 25, 2025. The eruption produced a high-altitude plume reaching about 14 km (46 000 feet) above sea level, spreading eastward across the Arabian Peninsula and India, where aviation authorities issued advisories, rerouted long-haul flights, and temporarily suspended operations on affected routes.

  • Hayli Gubbi volcano erupts for the first time in recorded history, Ethiopia

    Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia erupted for the first time in at least 12 000 years on November 23, 2025, marking its first confirmed Holocene activity. The eruption generated a plume rising to about 14 km (46 000 feet) above sea level before drifting toward the Arabian Peninsula. Updated satellite data from IASI-C on November 24 detected a large SO2 plume between 5 km (16 400 feet) and 17 km (55 800 feet), with a centre-of-mass height near 16 km (52 500 feet) and a total mass loading of 58.4 kt.