By: Adam Withnall, 12/09/2013

A powerful icy storm system is sweeping across the US, resulting in temperatures dropping to -29C and lower as well as deaths, power cuts and massive travel disruption. Yesterday the winter storm began pushing up the country's densely-populated Eastern Seaboard, and forecasters say it will continue to drop freezing rain, sleet and snow on cities from West Virginia to Maine. A severe warning was issued by the Government’s National Weather Service (NWS) at the weekend, and officials say temperatures will remain low until late on Monday (local time) when the system exits to the northeast.

For more on this story visit http://www.independent.co.uk

By: Wunderground.com, 12/10/2013

Winter Storm Dion is bringing snow from the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today, leading to snow-covered roads and travel slowdowns. Below are the latest minute-by-minute updates on active winter weather from The Weather Channel team of meteorologists, along with National Weather Service offices and posts from social media. The latest updates will appear automatically on top; no need to refresh this page.

For more on this story visit www.wunderground.com

By: T, 12/10/2013

After a relatively calm period, a large vulcanian explosion occurred at the volcano this morning (04:30 GMT). VAAC Darwin reports an ash plume to 38,000 ft (12 km) altitude drifting 50 nautical miles to the NW. The eruption was preceded by a smaller one at midnight (GMT) with an ash plume altitude of estimated 18,000 ft (5.5 km). The volcano has been on red alert for 2 weeks and more than 17,000 people remain evacuated (for good reason!).

For more on this story visit www.volcanodiscovery.com

By: Deborah Byrd, 12/09/2013

Expert observers are reporting an unexpected outburst of a little-known (but historical) meteor shower. The Andromedid meteor outburst began yesterday (December 8, 2013) and might not have peaked yet. The Geminid meteor shower is going on now, too, peaking on the mornings of December 13 and 14. So tonight might be an awesome night to go outside and watch for meteors!

For more on this story visit www.earthky.org

By: USGS

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

26 earthquakes

    2.9 46km SE of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-09 14:10:40 UTC-05:00 14.0 km

    2.7 41km NNE of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-12-09 13:24:26 UTC-05:00 37.0 km

    3.4 213km SSE of Akutan, Alaska 2013-12-09 13:06:07 UTC-05:00 25.0 km

    4.8 36km NW of `Alaqahdari-ye Kiran wa Munjan, Afghanistan 2013-12-09 12:40:32 UTC-05:00 150.5 km

    4.7 171km NNW of Da Qaidam Hu, China 2013-12-09 11:42:25 UTC-05:00 20.8 km

    4.5 46km SW of Cayhagan, Philippines 2013-12-09 10:27:06 UTC-05:00 76.0 km

    2.9 28km WNW of Rincon, Puerto Rico 2013-12-09 09:10:50 UTC-05:00 20.0 km

    4.8 4km NE of Barcelona, Philippines 2013-12-09 08:31:16 UTC-05:00 114.6 km