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November ends and 2022’s last month begins this week. In our historic look-back, we take a look at unusually hail storms, historic Antarctica firsts and rare celestial events.

On this day in 1895, the first automobile race in the U.S. occurred in Chicago. Fifty-four miles in length, the race took 10 hours to complete with the winning car averaging less than 10 mph.

On this day in 1929, U.S. Admiral and noted Antarctic explorer Richard E. Byrd led the first flight over the South Pole. The roundtrip flight took more than 18 hours.

On this day in 1954, sci-fi came true in Sylacauga, Ala. A meteorite the size of a grapefruit crashed through a farmhouse roof, bounced off a radio and striking a napping woman. The woman was badly bruised, but quickly healed from her injury.

The meteorite, before striking the house, produced a daytime fireball visible in three states as it entered the atmosphere and likely caused an air blast.

On December 1, 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was officially open for signatures by governments worldwide. The treaty banned military activity on the continent and designating that the continent would be a scientific preserve.

Not common in December, but on this day in 1950, a hailstorm hit St. Louis. The accumulating hail, some up to the bottom of automobiles, caused traffic delays. The same system that produced the hail caused four tornadoes, three in Illinois and one in Arkansas.

NASA’s Pioneer 10 sent back the first close-up images of Jupiter on this day in 1973. It passed within 83,000 miles of the solar system’s biggest planet. Communication was lost in 2003 as the spacecraft exit the solar system.

On December 4, 2017, the Thomas fire started in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles. Driven by the year’s strongest Santa Ana winds, the wildfire quickly spread and would become, at the time, the largest wildfire in modern California history. It has since been surpassed by at least seven other fires.

It would burn 440 square miles of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties while causing more than $2 billion in damage. Two people were killed by the fire.

Exceptionally bright flashes of light were recently reported in Norway as a fireball lit up the sky.

On November 19th at 7.08 p.m. local time, an unusually bright meteor, called a bolide, illuminated the night sky. A bolide is a type of fireball that explodes in a bright flash at its end.

The bolide travelled west of Florø and burned up in the atmosphere, 40 miles (65 km) above sea level. The meteor was a part of the northern Taurids, though the Leonid meteor shower is also active at the same time.

The Taurids don't tend to produce as many meteors as the Leonids, but are better known for producing very powerful and bright meteors, like this one.

A very active weather pattern is taking shape as we head into next week, and it will be cold and wet from coast-to-cast. From wintry weather to severe storms, there will be a little bit of everything in the mix.

A weak Pacific storm system is bringing rain and snow to the Pacific Northwest early Saturday. This system will weaken as it heads into the Rockies but will still bring some snow and freezing rain to northern Idaho and western Montana. Travel will be difficult in these areas today. A stronger system is not too far behind and will impact weather across the country next week.

WeatherRadar is showing soggy day for much of the southeast as low pressure organizes over Texas and begins to track northeast, taking the unusual November snow over New Mexico and West Texas with it.

Showers and storms will continue through much of the southeast as we head into the afternoon and evening. The east side of this system will bring heavy rain and thunderstorms. Challenging travel conditions are expected along I-10, so drive carefully.

A few strong storms are possible from coastal Louisiana into the Florida Panhandle this afternoon. Storms this afternoon may make travel difficult in cities like New Orleans and Mobile, Ala. Damaging winds are the main threat, but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.

As the low pressure system that developed over Texas tracks northeast, rain spreads into the Ohio River Valley and the Appalachians before pushing into the Great Lakes, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic during the afternoon and evening hours. This system will bring mostly rain, but WeatherRadar shows that a few snow showers are possible in Northern New England.

On the other side of the country, another, more potent storm moves in off the Pacific. Mostly rain is expected for Portland, Ore. Sunday, but the mountains will see some significant snow. Up to two feet of snow accumulation is expected in the Cascades, and the Northern Rockies will see heavy snow as well. Great news for many ski resorts! However, snow covered roads will make travel in these areas will be difficult.

Rain and snow will continue Monday morning for the Pacific Northwest, and mountain snow will continue to accumulate. This system will generate coast-to-coast impacts through the first of half of the week. While the majority of the snow will fall over the Intermountain West, there will be swath of snow stretching from Nebraska into the Midwest.

The south side of this system will be quite stormy. Severe storms are possible Tuesday around the Texarkana region Tuesday. The system continues to push east Wednesday, bringing rain to much of the eastern half of the U.S.

Earlier this month Tropical Storm Nicole stormed over the Bahamas causing flooding and damage, but it also created an unusual sight offshore.

As the tropical storm, which later strengthened and became a hurricane just before reaching Florida, passed over the Abaco Islands it created eddies in the Atlantic below.

Although the visual phenomenon can often be attributed to phytoplankton, the cause here is carbonate-rich silt which was swept into the water by Nicole where surface currents created the stunning visual.

There is also darker, heavier sand caught in the eddies which are likely to have sunk after a few days while the silt particles can last for over a week.

Once Tropical Storm Nicole had deposited the silt and sand into the ocean, a process known as vortex shedding took place.

This is an oscillating flow that creates the vortex patterns and in this instance eerily mirrors the tropical storm which caused the event to occur.

Tropical Storm Nicole formed on November 7 becoming the 14th named storm and eventually the eighth hurricane of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Two days later on the 9th, Nicole made landfall in the Bahamas on Grand Bahama Island with sustained wind speeds of up to 75 mph. Hundreds of people were housed in temporary accommodation as flooding hit northern regions.

By November 10, storm warnings in the Bahamas were removed as Nicole intensified, becoming a hurricane as it hit Florida resulting in widespread disruption including the delay of NASA’s Artemis 1 mission to the Moon.

The world climate conference in Egypt has ended, during which representatives of over 200 countries made an important decision, but was it a breakthrough?

For the last 2 weeks in Sharm el-Sheikh, issues have been discussed on how to halt climate change, so that destructive and deadly droughts, floods, heatwaves, and other disasters do not become our everyday reality.

Whilst no agreement was reached on many issues, there was some success. It was decided that a common pot of money will be set up to compensate for those poorer countries who feel the effects of climate change the most.

The aim is to cushion the inevitable consequences of climate change and increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events. It was said to be the biggest point of contention throughout the two-week conference in Sharm El Sheikh, which had to be extended by around 36 hours.

However, the necessary approval of the final declaration is still pending, and the resolution does not mention any sums for the new compensation fund, nor who exactly should pay in.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead, and COP20 President said "The COP28 climate summit next year must be the COP of climate credibility. And countries must deliver.”