Tuesday, December 20, 2011
 

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather:

Winter Storm Warnings and Blizzard Warnings are in effect from New Mexico to Missouri. See www.nws.noaa.gov/largemap.php for the latest information.
West:
A storm moving in off the Pacific will produce rain in Washington and Oregon. Snow, including areas of heavy snow, will fall from the Cascades to the northern Rockies. Montana will see winds gusting to 50 mph. Snow showers are possible early in the day in eastern Colorado and northeast New Mexico from the low over the Plains.
Midwest:
A few snow showers will spread out of the Rockies into the Northern Plains. The low pressure system in the Southern Plains reached its peak intensity late last night and will slowly weaken today. The blizzard conditions in the central High Plains are expected to gradually subside. Snow totals in many areas exceeded a foot. A front extends from the low to the Mid-Atlantic. North of the front, a wintery mix of snow, rain and sleet mix will extend from the Midwest across the southern Great Lakes. The front extending southward out of the low will produce rain and thunderstorms to the Gulf Coast.
South:
The storm and associated fronts moving out of the Plains will produce rain and thunderstorms across much of the Southeast. Rainfall totals could be near an inch, especially in the Tennessee valley. A few of the thunderstorms in the lower Mississippi River Valley could become severe. The snow and gusty winds in the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma will gradually come to an end with snowfall totals exceeding a foot.
Northeast:
The cold front across the Mid-Atlantic will produce extensive rain in lower elevations, and snow and sleet across the Appalachians, especially Pennsylvania. The precipitation will spread into Upstate New York and New England later today.</p> Midwestern Winter Storm

The New Mexico State Emergency Operations Center is partially activated. There are road closures in New Mexico, most significantly I-40 is closed from Albuquerque to the Texas border and six shelters are open in New Mexico with 100 occupants. Sporadic power outages have been reported. There are road closures in Kansas, most significantlyÂ* I-70 is closed in northwest Kansas. Texas and Oklahoma have shelters on standby.
All FEMA Regions are at a Watch/Steady State and there are no requests for FEMA Assistance at this time.Â*

Space Weather:

No space weather storms were observed during the past 24 hours and no space weather storms are predicted for the next 24 hours.Â*
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)


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