Latest news with #SouthCarolina
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Science
- Yahoo
What is a fireball, and how often does rare event occur? See known SC meteorites
The American Meteor Society received over 160 reports in the Southeast − including South Carolina and Georgia − of a fiery object streaking through the skies on June 26. The object, identified later on as a fireball, "exploded 27 miles above West Forest, Georgia, unleashing an energy of about 20 tons of TNT," according to CBS News. Bill Cooke, a lead at NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, confirmed the fireball, observed before 12:30 p.m., was 3 feet in diameter, weighing more than a ton. No injuries have been reported due to the fireball, although a home in Henry County, Georgia, was struck by debris suspected to be related to the meteor. Here's the difference between a fireball and meteor. Per FossilEra, a meteor is often called a "shooting star" or "falling star" since they appear as a streak of light, produced when a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes due to the intense heat caused by friction with air. A meteor is a visible atmospheric phenomenon that results from the meteor's swift entry and disintegration, meaning it is not a physical object. A fireball is a meteor that is significantly brighter than normal meteors, outshining planet Venus. Ground-level rumbles known as sonic booms occur when a fireball explodes, according to EBSCO. Only a small number of meteors that enter the Earth's atmosphere are classified as fireballs. Each day, several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth's atmosphere, and the majority of them are difficult to observe since they take place over the oceans and uninhabited regions, with many masked by daylight, per the American Meteor Society. Fireballs that occur at night have less of a chance of being seen because there aren't as many people outside to notice them. "Additionally, the brighter the fireball, the more rare is the event. As a general thumb rule, there are only about 1/3 as many fireballs present for each successfully brighter magnitude class, following an exponential decrease." said the American Meteor Society. "Experienced observers can expect to see only about 1 fireball of magnitude -6 or better for every 200 hours of meteor observing, while a fireball magnitude -4 can be expected about once every 20 hours or so." Meteorites are fragments of space rocks like asteroids or comets that survive passing through Earth's atmosphere, landing on the surface. Before entering the atmosphere, they are called meteoroids, and can vary in size from tiny dust grains to large asteroids. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources listed the following records regarding meteorite occurrence within the state on their website: 1843: Achondrite, Bishopville 1844: Octahedrite, Ruff's Mountain, Newberry County 1849: Ataxite, Chesterville 1857: Octahedrite, Laurens County 1880: Octahedrite, Lexington County 1933: Chondrite, Cherokee Springs The Greenville News reached out to NASA for a comment for this story, but did not receive a response. Nina Tran covers trending topics for The Greenville News. Reach her via email at ntran@ This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Fireball and meteor: The difference, how to tell them apart
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
United Community Banks, Inc. Announces Date for Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Release and Conference Call
GREENVILLE, S.C., June 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE: UCB) announces it will release its second quarter 2025 financial results on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, before the stock market opens. The company also will hold a conference call at 9:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, to discuss its financial results, business highlights, and outlook. Participants can pre-register for the conference call by navigating to Those without internet access or unable to pre-register may dial in by calling 1-844-676-1337. Participants are encouraged to dial in 15 minutes prior to the call start time. The conference call also will be webcast and can be accessed by selecting 'Events and Presentations' under 'News and Events' within the Investor Relations section of the company's website, About United Community Banks, Inc. United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE: UCB) is the financial holding company for United Community, a top 100 U.S. financial institution committed to building stronger communities and improving the financial health and well-being of its customers. United Community offers a full range of banking, mortgage and wealth management services. As of March 31, 2025, United Community Banks, Inc. had $27.9 billion in assets and operated 200 offices across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The company also manages a nationally recognized SBA lending franchise and a national equipment finance subsidiary, extending its reach to businesses across the country. United is an 11-time winner of J.D. Power's award for highest customer satisfaction among consumer banks in the Southeast and was named the most trusted bank in the region in 2025. The company has also been recognized eight consecutive years by American Banker as one of the 'Best Banks to Work For.' In commercial banking, United earned five 2025 Greenwich Best Brand awards, including national honors for middle market satisfaction. Forbes has consistently named United among the World's Best and America's Best Banks. Learn more at For more information: Elizabeth BoggessHead of Investor Relations(864) 241-8705Investor_Relations@
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Climate
- The Independent
Heat waves bring dangerous and deadly lightning strikes. Here's how to avoid getting struck
Amid the nation's first heat wave of the summer season, lightning killed one honeymooner enjoying the beach in Florida and injured 20 others cooling off on a South Carolina lake. More than 30 people have been injured by such strikes during the course of the past two weeks, according to AccuWeather. Some 20 people are killed by lightning each year in the U.S., and hundreds more are injured. Most of those deaths occur in July and usually over the weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes, with the Southeast most at risk. Those who survive strikes can suffer lifelong neurological damage, such as forgetfulness and memory issues, depression, irritability, and personality changes. The result of the build-up and discharge of static electricity in the atmosphere, a strike can heat the air it passes through to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit: a measurement that's five times hotter than the surface of the sun. 'Lightning is a serious summertime safety risk that can injure or tragically kill people who are outdoors,' AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter warned. With warmer temperatures comes an increased risk of storms that can lead to lightning strikes, and potentially related wildfires. A hotter atmosphere can hold more of the moisture needed for storm formation. So, how do you keep yourself and your loved ones safe this summer? Be weather aware Monitoring the weather is the best way to stay safe! This is especially the case if you're planning any outdoor activities. Lightning can strike up to 30 miles away from a storm, particularly from anvil clouds that are the flat top of a thunderstorm. Whereas, 'cauliflower-looking' cumulonimbus clouds signal a maturing thunderstorm. But, dangerous lightning can happen in any thunderstorm, not just severe thunderstorms. That was the case in South Carolina. 'Conditions went from quiet and calm to a small thunderstorm with multiple lightning strikes within a matter of minutes,' AccuWeather chief on-air meteorologist Bernie Rayno explained. 'As quickly as this storm developed, it weakened and passed by. This was a very small thunderstorm, but it packed a lot of lightning.' If you're outside There is no safe place outside when thunderstorms are in the area. If you can hear thunder, you are likely in the range of the storm. Too many people wait too long to get to safety when thunderstorms are approaching. People should have a lightning safety plan, including where to go and how long it will take to get there. Avoid open fields, and hills or ridge tops. Also, stay away from tall, isolated trees and other tall objects. If you are in a group, spread out to avoid the current traveling between group members. When lightning strikes the ground, the energy radiates outward. Stay away from water, wet items, and any metal objects. Water and metal are excellent conductors of electricity. Fishing and swimming are some of the deadliest activities for lightning-related deaths. Lastly, don't do the 'lightning crouch', the old recommendation to bend over and curl up into a ball on your toes. The National Lightning Safety Council now says that it only prolongs the risk of being struck. When you're indoors Being inside may not protect you from associated dangers. When lightning strikes a home or building, it often follows the wiring or plumbing, so stay away from anything plugged into an outlet and sinks, showers, and tubs. Cell phones and cordless phones are safe, but do not touch TVs or computers. Lightning generates electric surges that can damage electronic equipment even a distance away from an actual strike. Make sure to stay away from windows or doors. The metal components could provide a pathway for the lightning to enter the home. Lightning can also travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or flooring. 'Stay indoors for 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder or flash of lightning, to allow the threat to pass before returning outdoors,' Porter added.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Residents express amazement after seeing mystery object streak across the sky
ATLANTA (AP) — More than 200 people across a half-dozen southern U.S. states have now reported witnessing a mysterious object streak across the sky on Thursday, but no one is certain exactly what it was. The object was likely either a meteor or space junk, with most sightings of the streak of light and fireball coming from Georgia and South Carolina around 12:30 p.m., according to a report from the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Georgia. People express amazement in witness accounts As of Friday afternoon, at least 215 reports of the object have poured into the American Meteor Society with many people expressing wonder and amazement in their reports. 'It was a bright fireball,' a woman in Bethlehem, Georgia, wrote. 'It did have a bright tail that disappeared with it, and left behind a smoke trail,' she added. 'I've never seen anything like it before.' A man in Milledgeville, Georgia, reported that 'I believe it hit the ground.' The roof of a Georgia home is pierced A resident of Henry County, Georgia, reported a rock coming through their roof around the time they heard the sonic boom from the fireball. It left behind a hole in the ceiling about the size of a golf ball and a crack in a laminate floor at the home southeast of Atlanta, according to the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Georgia. 'We are presuming that a piece of the object fell through their roof,' the weather service said in a brief statement on social media. Dashboard and doorbell cameras across several states in the southeastern U.S. states caught glimpses of the fireball that appeared to be plummeting straight down. Broad daylight sighting is rare Meteors and other space debris frequently enter Earth's atmosphere, but it is rare for an object to be so bright it can easily be seen in broad daylight. Videos of the event showed clear skies on Thursday, allowing many to see the object falling. 'First time to ever see an event in daylight like this,' a man in Cumming, Georgia, north of Atlanta, said in his report to the meteor society. 'It was so bright in the middle of the day... brighter than the sun,' a woman in Dublin, Georgia reported. Bright fireballs are caused by friction as an object enters the atmosphere and slows down considerably. Almost all objects break into minuscule pieces before striking the ground, according to NASA.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fireball may bring memories of past meteorites that fell in Florida
The American Meteor Society received nearly 150 reports of a meteor flashing through the daytime sky Thursday, June 26. Most of the reports were from Georgia and South Carolina, but a few reported seeing the fireball from Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. It's possible the "rock" that hit a Georgia home was meteorite associated with the fireball. Meteorites aren't very common in Florida, but there have been documented reports over the last 100 years, including three in this century, according to The Meteoritical Society. The NWS station in Peachtree City, Georgia, posted on Facebook, "It appears that either a meteor or space junk crossed the skies of north Georgia just before 12:30 p.m." June 26. The American Meteor Society logged more than 200 witness reports from North Florida up to North Carolina and Tennessee of a bright streak in the sky. Most of the reports were in northeastern Georgia and western South Carolina, at around 12:21 p.m. ET. Bill Cooke, the chief of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, told The New York Times and local news outlets the meteor was about 3 feet in diameter and weighed more than 1 ton The Peachtree National Weather Service said "a citizen reported that a 'rock' fell through their ceiling around the time of the reports of the 'earthquake.'" "We are presuming that a piece of the object fell through their roof," the Peachtree NWS said. "Henry County EMA also reported that the object broke through the roof, then the ceiling, before cracking the laminate on the floor and stopping." While not as common as neighboring states, meteorites have been reported in Florida. The Meteoritical Society lists the following: Okechobee, 1916 2.2 pounds Eustis, 1918 1.1 pounds Bonita Springs, 1938 92 pounds Grayton, 1983 24.9 pounds Orlando, 2004 .39 pounds Tiger Tail, 2015 .08 pounds Osceola, 2016 In total, eight stones were found with a combined weight of 2.4 pounds A "confirmed fall" followed a "large daytime fireball (that) streaked across the sky in northern Florida" on Jan. 24, 2016. Designated as Osceola, eight meteorites were found in the Osceola Wildlife Management Area west of Jacksonville, with a combined weight of 2.4 pounds, according to The Meteoritical Society ➤ See photos A meteoroid is a rock in space. It becomes a meteor when it enters Earth's atmosphere and is commonly called a "shooting star" or "fireball." If it hits the ground, it's a meteorite, NASA said. "Scientists estimate about 48.5 tons of meteoritic material falls on Earth each day," according to NASA. "Almost all the material is vaporized in Earth's atmosphere, leaving a bright trail fondly called 'shooting stars.' "Several meteors per hour can usually be seen on any given night. Sometimes the number increases dramatically —these events are called meteor showers." The Bootid meteor shower is an unpredictable shower that peaks today, June 27, although it'll remain active until about July 2, according to The best times to catch the Bootid meteor shower are a couple of hours before dawn and after sunset, according to Forbes. Contributing: Eric Lagatta, C.A. Bridges, USA Today Network-Florida This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Fireball in the sky: List of meteorites that hit Florida
