Our Daily Planet: April Fool's Day Snow and Fugitive Beasts

Each weekday morning, OurAmazingPlanet takes the pulse of the Earth, reporting on natural phenomena and exploration news from around the globe.

Fugitive Beasts: The Bronx Zoo's escaped Egyptian cobra sent shivers down the spines of New Yorkers, but she is only one of a few scary creatures recently on the loose in New York City. The others were much, much bigger. [Related: Found! Bronx Zoo Cobra Alive & Well.]

Rudy Passes: The Los Angeles Zoo's popular African elephant, Ruby, died on Tuesday at the age of 50. She was one of the oldest African elephants in captivity.

Spring? April Fools!: A nor'easter is bringing snow and wintry weather today. No joke. If you live in the Northeast, try not to be too jealous of those in the Southwest, where temperatures are expected to be 20 degrees above average today.

Florida Tornadoes: Preliminary reports indicate that six tornadoes hit Central Florida yesterday. Storm survey teams are now working to confirm how many twisters struck the state. [Related: Invisible Storms: Rain-Wrapped Tornadoes Strike Florida ]

Previously on Our Daily Planet: More Dolphin Deaths and Severe Southern Weather

Reach OurAmazingPlanet staff writer Brett Israel at bisrael@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @btisrael.

Brett Israel was a staff writer for Live Science with a focus on environmental issues. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from The University of Georgia, a master’s degree in journalism from New York University, and has studied doctorate-level biochemistry at Emory University.