On March 26, the AR4403 unleashed an M3.9 flare, and the month closed with a dramatic exclamation point: an X1.4 flare from AR4405 on March 30, the strongest event of the month. The eruption prompted forecasters to issue watches for G3 (strong) to G4 (severe) geomagnetic storms - a development that also raised concerns for NASA's Artemis 2 mission, scheduled to launch just days later.
March 2026 brought catastrophic flooding and severe storm activity spanning nearly every continent:
- Southern Ethiopia: Catastrophic landslides and flash floods in the Gamo Zone killed at least 102 people, with 128 more reported missing and over 3,480 displaced.
- United States: A devastating series of tornadoes tore through the Midwest and Southern Plains between March 6 and 11, killing at least two in Oklahoma and striking Michigan with deadly force. Massive hailstorms accompanied the outbreak across the region. Dallas recorded record rainfall on March 5.
- Hawaii: 400 mm (16 inches) of rain in some areas within 24 hours, leaving over 100,000 without power. Flash flooding prompted the evacuation of more than 5,500 people and brought the aging Wahiawā Dam within just 6 feet of catastrophic failure.
- East Africa: Flash floods killed 10 in Nairobi, Kenya, while landslides and flooding claimed at least 20 lives in Tanzania and 34 in Malawi. In Mozambique, floods killed 18 as heavy rains continued to batter the southeastern coast.
- South America: Nearly 300 cities across Bahia state, Brazil, were flooded. In Tucumán, Argentina, 7 inches of rain fell in just hours, wreaking havoc across the province. Flash floods struck Zaruma and Portovelo in Ecuador, and widespread flooding hit central Colombia.
- Middle East: Severe hailstorms turned deserts white across Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Five died in Oman after vehicles were swept away by floodwaters. Dubai's Burj Khalifa was struck by lightning as the city endured heavy flooding. Flash flood warnings were issued across the UAE.
- Russia: Authorities declared a state of emergency in Dagestan's capital after floods cut power to over 327,000 people.
- Australia: The month opened with what authorities called a "once in a generation" weather event, as heavy rain, thunderstorms, and flooding smashed across the country.
- Indonesia: Cold lava floods from Mount Merapi struck the Senowo River on March 4. Jakarta was inundated by heavy rainfall on March 13, triggering widespread flooding and evacuations.
- Eastern Alps, Europe: A massive late-March snowstorm buried the region under up to 1.5 meters (nearly 5 feet) of snow.
- Turkey: The city of Kars saw snowfall reach depths of 2 meters, and the country set new March snow records.
- Michigan: The Upper Peninsula was buried under up to 52 inches (over 1.3 meters) of snow during a 3-day blizzard.
- Alaska: Juneau smashed its all-time seasonal snow record with more than 200 inches of total accumulation.
- Rocky Mountains: Ski resorts recorded 3 feet of snowfall in a single 24-hour period.
- Mediterranean islands: In a highly unusual development, snow fell on Madeira, Majorca, the Canary Islands, and Cyprus - locations where such conditions are exceedingly rare for any time of year, let alone March.
- Europe: Snow returned to Greece, Albania, and Poland's Tatra Mountains in late March, while heavy spring snowfall and strong winds shut key roads toward the Croatian coast.
- Asia: A blizzard struck China's Xinjiang region. Heavy snowfall blanketed parts of northern India, where avalanches on the Srinagar-Leh highway killed 7 people.
- Azerbaijan: Spring snowfall reached 37 cm in Shahbuz.
- Louisiana, United States: On March 6, a very shallow 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck - the second-largest in the state's recorded history. While it caused no fatalities, the event was felt across a wide area and served as a stark reminder that seismic risk is not confined to the traditionally active fault zones of the western United States.
- Reventador Volcano, Ecuador: A massive eruption on March 8 sent an ash plume to 15,000 feet.
- Mount Merapi, Indonesia: Cold lava floods (lahars) struck the Senowo River on March 4, threatening downstream communities.
- Mount Semeru, Indonesia: A massive pyroclastic flow reached the volcano's base on March 20, indicating a significant escalation in activity at the country's most active volcano.
- Réunion Island, Indian Ocean: Lava flows reached the ocean on March 17 for the first time in nearly two decades, a rare event underscoring the island's active volcanic nature.
March 2026 had a remarkable surge in fireball and meteorite activity across the Northern Hemisphere. Beginning with a daytime fireball over western Europe on March 8, the month saw an unprecedented wave of major events - from fireballs over Connecticut, Turkey, Spain, and Ohio, to the dramatic March 21 incident in which a one-ton asteroid broke apart over Houston at 35,000 mph, sending a football-sized meteorite crashing through the roof of a home. NASA tracked the debris using weather radar, and scientists later recovered multiple fragments. Confirmed meteorite falls included rare achondritic eucrites linked to the asteroid Vesta. Fireballs also continued through late March across California, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Germany, and Canada, with many accompanied by sonic booms.
According to the American Meteor Society, Q1 2026 produced 2,046 fireball events (the highest total on record) with 38 major events witnessed by over 50 people, compared to just 15 in the same period of 2025. Sonic booms occurred at a rate of roughly one every three days, and long-duration sighting reports reached 1,693, more than 2.5 times the previous high. The total number of fireballs remained broadly normal, but what changed was their size.
All this and more in our SOTT Earth Changes Summary for March 2026:
To understand what's going on, check out our book explaining how all these events are part of a natural climate shift, and why it is taking place now: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection
Check out previous installments in this series - translated into multiple languages - here.
Reader Comments
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"Every breath we take is contaminated. "Unusual airborne toxin detected in the U.S. for the first time, hidden toxins may be drifting into the air" (ScienceDaily). "Brain-Eating Amoebas May Pose a Growing Global Threat, Scientists Warn" (ScienceAlert). "Mystery 'skyquakes' are ripping through the world. And nobody knows why" (BBC). The so called science community doesn't seem to have a clue about much of anything any more. Perhaps that is their purpose and what they are paid to do, pacify populations until the brutal bitter end. The latest installment of Global Alert News is below." -Dane Wigington [Link]