by Josue Sanchez, co-Editor-in-Chief

The first quarter of the century concluded with the arrival of January earlier this year; however, it seems like there hasn’t been a single week without the emergence of some unusual event.

On January 1st, like every year, millions of people from both major cities and rural communities celebrated the arrival of the New Year. Many traditions were kept; fireworks lit up the skies of major cities including Auckland, Dubai, London and, of course, across cities in the United States.

Soon after the initial celebrations, however, the year has been beset with a barrage of notable (if for all the wrong reasons) events spanning across the first two months.

Many of these events have had a direct impact on the United States, and within the confines of Los Angeles county as well. Perhaps most notable in this regard was the outbreak of wildfires that sprang up throughout the county in early January.

The first of these was the Palisades Fire, which began shortly before noon on January 7th in the Pacific Palisades community in the west of Los Angeles. By the end of the day, the fire had spread across many of the region’s notable parks and landscapes, including Santa Ynez Canyon and Topanga State Parks.

Fueled by the power of strong katabatic winds, other fires began to pop up across the county. The Eaton Fire, named for its origin, the Eaton Canyon Natural Area near Pasadena, ended up consuming about 14,000 acres of land north of Pasadena, including the community of Altadena in the north of Los Angeles.

Several other fires began, the causes of which varied depending on the incident in question. By the end of January, most of the fires were placed under control, with the largest Palisades and Eaton fires finally being placed under 100% containment on January 31st.

Weather occurrences haven’t been limited to California, however. January was both a month of fire and ice, as shown by the snowstorms that swept the South in the latter half of January. On the 21st, the historic snowstorm engulfed much of the region, particularly affecting the states of Texas, Louisiana and Georgia, among others.

Major cities in the region, including New Orleans, LA and Mobile, AL were severely affected, halting road traffic across the cities, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this particular snowstorm broke snowfall records that had been kept for approximately 130 years.

Some speculate that this could be a sign of more drastic weather and climate events due to the impact of climate change.

2025’s unusual events haven’t been limited to the weather, however. Things began to occur since the very first day of the new year, as shown by the two vehicular attacks that occurred on New Years’ Day.

The first happened in the city of New Orleans, following New Years’ celebrations occurring in the very center of the city. Three hours after midnight (Central Standard Time,) a Ford truck rented by American-born Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar was driven into the city’s Bourbon Street, one of the most crowded parts of the city. There, 57 people were injured, with 15 additional people killed, including the perpetrator, who was killed after a shootout.

The second attack occurred approximately eight hours later across the country in the metropolitan area of Las Vegas, Nevada. At that time, a Tesla Cybertruck driven by Matthew Alan Livelsberger arrived at the main entrance of the Trump International Hotel. Shortly after it arrived, it suddenly exploded, killing Livelsberger and injuring seven others. 

Due to the timing of the two events, as well as some similarities in how they were conducted (involving the same car rental platform, Turo), initial reports proposed the idea that the two attacks were linked. 

However, more recent information seems to confirm that these two incidents were unrelated; the former was reported as a case of domestic terrorism while the latter was seen as a provocative political message, as it came mere weeks before the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States.

One of the more widespread trends, notable in the first few months of this new year, has been the rise of aviation incidents beginning in January. On the 29th, American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter operated by the United States Army near Washington D.C’s Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport. 

The collision happened in the skies over the Potomac River, likely due to a lack of proper communication between the two aircraft. As of March 2nd, it seems that both aircraft were aware of each other upon arrival in Washington; however, the aircraft did not maintain distance from each other, leading to a collision approximately 100 meters off the surface of the Potomac.

Unfortunately, all 67 passengers in both the helicopter and the American Airlines flight were killed.

While this was the first notable aviation incident seen across national news broadcasts in 2025, others have followed. As January turned into February, crashes occurred in both the city of Philadelphia (January 31st) and in northern Alaska (February 6th.)

Perhaps the most notable of these incidents happened on February 17th. On that day, Delta Connections Flight 4819, flying from Minneapolis, MN to Toronto, Canada, was flipped upside down upon its arrival at Toronto Pearson International Airport. This particular incident was likely caused by unfavorable weather conditions, although the incident is still under investigation. The incident had no casualties.

Many have linked these recent incidents to one of the actions taken against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20th, several hundred employees were fired from the FAA.

This year has already brought on a variety of unusual events within its first two months, and more is bound to come. If anything, the variety of odd events showcases how weird the start of this year has been — as well as how much weirder it could potentially become.