Look up to the sky for streaking meteors and fireballs: The Orionid meteor shower is expected to peak overnight tonight, Space.com reports.
Driving the news: There’s expected to be relatively little moonlight to get in the way of spotting “spectacular displays of up to 80 meteors an hour,” the website notes.
The third straight La Niña winter in the U.S. is likely to cause drought to expand and deepen from California to the Plains, branching out across the Southeast, NOAA said Thursday.
How it works: Currently, water levels along certain stretches of the Mississippi River are so low that centuries-old shipwrecks are being revealed, and modern-day barge traffic is imperiled.
Driving the news: Seattle marked its second consecutive day of having the worst air quality in the world Thursday, according to its air quality index (AQI).