The Yellowstone caldera -- an ancient supervolcano sleeping under a large part of northwestern Wyoming -- is a popular subject of apocalyptic imaginaton, but don't bother running to your disaster shelter. A scientist with the US Geological Survey told that there doesn't seem to be a direct relationship between geyser eruptions and caldera activity. The USGS assured worried geyser-watchers on Twitter that such eruptions are normal at any frequency. "Geysers erupt all the time -- it's what they do," they wrote.

Earthquakes in California
 

A map of fault lines in the western United States
 

Small earthquakes happen all the time all around the United States, but every one in a while a series of them -- called a "swarm" -- will jostle one particular area and set people on edge. That happened in Southern California over the weekend, when dozens of small tremors were recorded in the Ocotillo Wells area east of San Diego. According the the USGS, six of these were larger than a 3 on the Richter magnitude scale.
Don Blakeman, a geophysicist with the USGS' National Earthquake Information Center, told swarms like the one this past weekend usually die out.
"No, you should not be worried about this little swarm," he said. "But keep in mind that a large earthquake can happen in [seismically active] Southern California any time."

Heavy rains in Florida

There's no trembling earth or fiery lava in Florida, but they're about to get rain -- a lot of it. Meteorologists are watching an area of "disturbed weather" in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Could it become a tropical storm or a hurricane? "Some slow development is possible with the system," CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen says. "And there is roughly a 40% chance the storm could become a tropical or sub-tropical system over the next five days."
Even if no storm forms, the system will make for some legendarily soggy weather. Widespread rains of up to 8 inches are likely over Florida, Hennen says, and the soggy weather will eventually make its way north up the coast. For an area still feeling the effects of last year's hurricane Irma, that's not exactly welcome news.

Record heat almost everywhere

If you aren't in the vicinity of lava, earthquakes, geysers or intense rain, chances are you're still unseasonably hot. Cities in Illinois, Indiana, and other states south to the Gulf will see record highs on Monday. Some places in Tennessee and Kentucky will see temperatures in the 90s that will break on-this-day records. In general, CNN's Dave Hennen says temperatures are running 15 degrees above normal.

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