Disruptive Iceland Volcanic Cloud

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the volcano at 1:30 p.m. local time (13:29:24 UTC, or 6:29:24 a.m. PDT) on April 15, capturing this false-color infrared image, as well as a visible image of the ash plume.

The images show the ash cloud (in blue) enveloping Iceland and moving eastward over the Shetland Islands and onward to Europe. The ash clouds appear to be at an altitude of 3,658 meters (12,000 feet).

Eyjafjallajokull Volcano over the North Atlantic

The Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland erupted Wednesday, April 14, for the second time this month. The volcano is still spewing ash into the air and the ash clouds are impacting air travel in Northern Europe.

NASA's Terra satellite flew over the volcano the following day at 11:35 UTC (7:35 a.m. EDT) on April 15, 2010, and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS instrument onboard Terra captured a visible image of the ash plume from Eyjafjallajokull Volcano.

U.S. forecaster sees increased 2010 hurricane threat

The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will produce an above-average eight hurricanes, four of them major, posing a heightened threat to the U.S. coastline, the Colorado State University hurricane forecasting team predicted on Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Robyn (Southern Indian Ocean)

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued their final advisory on Robyn today, April 6 at 09:00 UTC (5 a.m. EDT). At that time, Robyn’s maximum sustained winds were down to 39 mph (35 knots) and weakening. It was located about 365 nautical miles southwest of Cocos Island, near 15.5 South and 91.7 East. It is moving north-northwest near 4 mph (3 knots). Robyn has encountered stronger vertical wind shear and will continue to weaken.

Strong earthquake rocks Mexico

The earthquake that jolted Mexico's Baja California peninsula has killed one man whose home collapsed, a civil protection official says.

Baja California state Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo said the man's home collapsed just outside of Mexicali, close to the epicentre of the 7.2-magnitude quake. Esobedo says there were reports of more people trapped in homes in Mexicali and rescue teams with dogs and digging equipment are rushing to the city from nearby Tijuana.

The quake, which struck at 2240 GMT (8.40am), was at a depth of 32.3 kilometres and was located 26 kilometres south-south-west of Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, and 64 kilometres south-west of San Luis, in the US state of Arizona, the USGS added.

A number of San Diego residents said the quake was the worst they had felt in decades.

Jess Ponting, an Australian working at San Diego State University, said he was at home when the quake struck. "The main earthquake shook our apartment block and caused a panic up and down the street,"

"I cowered under my kitchen table on the third floor for about 45 seconds as the apartment shook violently and glassware rattled and ornaments and pictures fell off the walls. "After the tremor finished, everyone spilled out on to the streets and started calling loved ones and figuring out what was going on."

Tropical Storm 23S Born in Southern Indian Ocean

Tropical Storm 23S was born today, April 2 about 260 nautical miles west of Cocos Island, Australia, near 11.5 South and 92.5 East. It has maximum sustained winds of 39 mph (35 knots) and is moving southward at around 6 mph (5 knots). Although Cocos Island is not in the direct path of the storm, it was being affected with by thunderstorms in the storm's outer bands.

When the TRMM satellite passed over Tropical Storm 23S on April 2 at 0913 UTC (5:13 a.m. EDT) it measured light to moderate rainfall. Since then, infrared satellite imagery indicated that bands of thunderstorms have consolidated around the center of 23S's center of circulation. Rainfall is likely going to intensify in the system as it strengthens over the weekend. At times rain may be falling in some areas of the storm at up to 2 inches per hour.

Cyclone Paul over the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Warnings Dropped for Ex-Cyclone Paul as NASA Satellites See it Fizzle


NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the remnants of ex-tropical storm Paul early today, April 1 and noticed its circulation and form had weakened in the last 24 hours. All weather warnings for the mainland in the Northern Territory have been cancelled.


On April 1 at 11:15 p.m. CST Darwin time (8:45 a.m. EDT) Paul's remnants were located close to the Northern Territory/Queensland border in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria coast. The low is expected to track inland overnight and continue to weaken over the southern Top End during the next few days.