Earth Changes
Suffolk police said they received numerous calls from residents in Lindenhurst, Copiague, Babylon and West Islip just after 6 p.m. Police have no knowledge of explosions in the area but are investigating.
The U.S. Coast Guard also said it is looking into the reports.
Resident Samantha Collins of Lindenhurst told NBC 4 New York she was sitting on the couch watching TV when "the whole house started shaking."
"We went outside, and all my neighbors were like, 'Did you hear that, did you hear that?'" she said.
Residents in the tri-state reported feeling similar booms in late January, when reports of rumbles and house-shaking flooded in from the southern Jersey Shore to Long Island and the Connecticut coast.
Naval officials said later they had been testing fighter jets over the Atlantic Ocean and that some of the maneuvers could have caused sonic booms.
Weather forecasters predict the strongest snowfall for the end of the week. According to Russia's meteorological service, such snowstorms occur in March once every 50 years.
The snowfall took Moscow's residents by surprise. Pedestrians heading to work are getting stuck in the snow, while many car owners have to dig their cars out of snow banks.
However, many people have not lost their sense of humor and shared their impressions on social networks.
São Paulo
The heavy rain began to fall on 28 February 2016. Two people died after they were buried in a landslide in the Boicucanga neighbourhood of São Sebastião on 29 February. The landslide destroyed several homes, leaving at least 11 people homeless. A total of 27 people were evacuated.
Agência Brasil say that a total of 7 people have died in landslides in the state since December.
The heavy rain also caused surface flooding in Baixada Santista on the coast of São Paulo state. Local civil defence personnel were called in to help carry out some evacuations.
The shallow quake, which hit southwest of the island of Sumatra on Wednesday, had a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles).
The epicenter was located 808 kilometers (502 miles) southwest of Padang.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. However, shallower earthquakes are more likely to cause damage.
The USGS originally categorized the quake as a magnitude 8.2, and later an 8.1, before lowering it to a 7.9.
Indonesia has issued a tsunami warning for West Sumatra, North Sumatra, and Aceh, according to the National Meteorological Agency.
A tsunami watch has also been issued for parts of Western Australia, according to the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre.
The sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) phenomenon is a rapid warming episode which takes place between 10 and 50 km (6.2 and 31 miles) of the Earth's atmosphere. During the warming, temperatures can climb for up to 50 °C in only a few days time.
SSW begins with a wave-like disturbance which travels into the high-altitude jet stream system, and can grow to a point to breaking, exhibiting similar behavior like the breaking beach waves. The jet stream usually flows in the west-to-east direction with some north and south oscillation. The disturbance can cause the winds to turn in the opposite direction. When that happens, the air falls into the Arctic and gets compressed, causing the rapid warming.
"Sudden stratospheric warming events occur high up in the atmosphere and involve a complete reversal of the high-altitude polar jet stream - they can even affect weather at the surface, and for the UK, a sudden stratospheric warming increases the risk of wintry weather," Professor Adam Scaife, Head of Monthly to Decadal Prediction explained.
The National Weather Service said they had not seen any indications of an explosion or other events that would show up on radar, and that there are no storms in the area.
"There's nothing unusual on the radar that would suggest a meteor or a comet," meteorologist Matt Dux said.
However, NWS did offer a possible theory on what could be causing the booms:
"After thinking a bit..one thing could be happening is this. There is a very sharp temperature change not too far off the surface (about 500 ft) tonight due to the warmer air aloft and fast cooling here at the ground. It's possible that as some aircraft are landing that this sound is bouncing off this temperature 'inversion.' It's a theory," NWS said.
Scanner traffic indicated that multiple people had called in to report the booms. Police were investigating reports in Hartford and at 85th Street and Marion Road.
Sgt. Jon Thum said police were unable to find the source of the noises.
People have reported the booms in several areas around Sioux Falls and beyond. Here are a few of the reports we've had of the mysterious sounds:
A powerful snowstorm that hit the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido grounded over 130 flights and led to power outages in approximately 4,000 households on Tuesday.
The country's meteorological agency recorded up to 20 inches of precipitation over the past 24 hours, with over 15 inches of snow expected by early Wednesday.
A snow cyclone is accompanied by winds reaching the speed of up to 115 feet per second. Wave heights on the island's shore exceeded 25 feet.
#japan inside refrigerator. Snowstorm still inN Japan, warnings issued widely. pic.twitter.com/gqKYIaZwZc
— Weather Mizumoto (@hepomodeler) March 1, 2016
Comment: Today, the country's meteorology agency warned citizens to brace for the worst blizzard in years.

Konstantin Lepsky, state inspector of the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve: 'When we patrolled the area, we walked along the lake in snowshoes for about 18 kilometres.'
Konstantin Lepsky, state inspector of the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve, said: 'When we patrolled the area, we walked along the lake in snowshoes for about 18 kilometres.
'From the observation tower at Travyanoy we looked around the horizon in all directions. The lake was completely frozen. Only in the mouth of the River Hakytsin could we see a little ice hole, where ducks and swans were swimming, and Steller's sea eagles were spotted.'
Most of the birds were forced to relocate to Avacha Bay, near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The lake formed in a caldera after two large volcanic explosions, one 41,500 radiocarbon years ago and the other around 6440 BC.
Scientists blame El Niño, the warm ocean current, for the heavy rains that turned roads into rivers in Arequipa, setting cars adrift in the torrent. The southern province has been particularly badly hit; at least two people were reportedly killed.
Residents in Tumbes, a coastal region in the northwest, were also left to survey the damage.
Local media reported that 3,000 people in the area had been left homeless, with 30,000 affected in some way.















Comment: There has also been increased volcanic activity in the region within the last week, as Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupted twice in one day spewing ash and smoke 3000 meters high