In less than 24 hours, a tsunami crashed into a remote island chain and a volcano erupted in Indonesia, killing a combined total of more than 400 people and forcing hundreds more to seek temporary refuge in emergency shelters.

A large storm system is tearing through the Midwest, delaying flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and drawing dire nicknames like "Chiclone" and "windpocalypse" and comparisons to a hurricane. This satellite image from NOAA shows the size of…