Rumbling Meteor Lights Up Norway, a Bit Possibly Landing near Oslo

OSLO, July 25 (Reuters) - An "unusually large meteor" briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, Oslo, experts said.
OSLO, July 25 (Reuters) - An "unusually large meteor" briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, Oslo, experts said.
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Rumbling Meteor Lights Up Norway, a Bit Possibly Landing near Oslo

OSLO, July 25 (Reuters) - An "unusually large meteor" briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, Oslo, experts said.
OSLO, July 25 (Reuters) - An "unusually large meteor" briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, Oslo, experts said.

An "unusually large meteor" briefly lit up southern Norway on Sunday, creating a spectacular sound and light display as it rumbled across the sky, and a bit of it may have hit Earth, possibly not far from the capital, Oslo, experts said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Reports of sightings started arriving around 1 a.m., with video circulating on social media showing at least one bright flash lighting up a marina at Holmestrand, south of Oslo.

The Norwegian Meteor network on Sunday was analyzing the video footage and other data to try to pinpoint the meteor's origin and destination.

Preliminary data suggested a meteorite may have hit Earth in a large wooded area, called Finnemarka, just 60 km (40 miles) west of the capital, Oslo, the network said.

"This was crazy," the network's Morten Bilet, who saw and heard the meteor, told Reuters.

The meteor travelled at 15-20 km per second and lit up the night sky for about five to six seconds, Bilet said. The summer sky was dark, with the days starting to get shorter from the end of June.

"What we had last night was a large rock travelling likely from between Mars and Jupiter, which is our asteroid belt. And when that whizzes in, it creates a rumble, light and great excitement among us (experts) and maybe some fear among others," Bilet said.

There were no reports of damage or people being particularly frightened, as was the case in 2013 when a meteorite streaked across Russia and exploded over Chelyabinsk Bilet said.

For those nearest, it was likely more of a "spooky" event, he added.



Hurricane Iona, Tropical Storm Keli Rumble in the Central Pacific off Hawaii

This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Iona forming in the central Pacific Ocean, Monday, July 28, 2025. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Iona forming in the central Pacific Ocean, Monday, July 28, 2025. (NOAA via AP)
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Hurricane Iona, Tropical Storm Keli Rumble in the Central Pacific off Hawaii

This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Iona forming in the central Pacific Ocean, Monday, July 28, 2025. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Iona forming in the central Pacific Ocean, Monday, July 28, 2025. (NOAA via AP)

A major hurricane was churning across the Pacific Ocean but was several hundred miles south-southeast of Hawaii and posed no threat to the islands, forecasters said Tuesday.

Hurricane Iona is one of two major weather systems in the central Pacific Ocean.

In its latest advisory, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said Iona was about 765 miles (1,230 kilometers) away from Honolulu, with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph), The AP news reported.

Additional strengthening was forecast later on Tuesday, with steady weakening expected to begin by Wednesday.

Hurricane Iona is the first named storm of the hurricane season in the central Pacific and emerged Sunday from a tropical depression. It continues to trek west over warm, open waters.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Keli has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), the NHC said Tuesday morning. It was about 890 miles (1,435 kilometers) southeast of Honolulu and was moving west at about 13 mph (20 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for the storms.

The administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency on Monday hosted a statewide conference call with all counties, during which the National Weather Service provided an assessment and status of the storms.

“All counties are monitoring,” agency spokesperson Kiele Amundson said in an email.

Another indirect impact from the weather systems could be swells, but they are relatively small and moving westward and won’t create anything significant, said Derek Wroe with the weather service in Honolulu.

However, a large swell is headed toward Hawaii after being generated several hundred miles east of New Zealand.

It’s expected to arrive in Hawaii by Thursday, about the same time the storms pass the state.

“People might wrongly attribute the swell energy to be from these tropical systems, but they’re actually not,” he said.