Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)
Significant National Weather:
West:
Coastal states will be dry but the Rockies and the Southwest will see significant snowfall from a low pressure system. The entire Rockies mountain range will see snow with southern Colorado and much of northern New Mexico receiving the heaviest accumulations of 6 to 18 inches with blizzard conditions. The Four Corners States will see a few lingering snow showers as the storm moves into the Plains.
Midwest:
Under high pressure, the Northern plains will be dry. A frontal system associated with the storm moving out of the Southwest will bring heavy snow to the Central Plains and Middle Mississippi Valley. Kansas will see 6 to 12 inch accumulations and blizzard conditions. South and east of the front, rain will spread eastward into the Ohio Valley. Tomorrow, snow mixed with rain will spread eastward over the southern Great Lakes.
South:
The storm moving out of the Southwest will produce heavy snow from southeastern New Mexico and southeastern Colorado to the Texas/Oklahoma Panhandles. Accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are likely. Winds gusting 40 to 50 mph will produce blizzard conditions. Areas south of the cold front will receive rain and thunderstorms. Some areas will see as much as 1 to 3 inches of rain. Severe thunderstorms are possible in eastern Texas with gusty winds and isolated tornadoes. High pressure will result in generally dry weather across much of the Southeast. Tomorrow, the winter weather conditions will abate and the thunderstorm activity will move eastward from the lower Mississippi River Valley to Florida.
Northeast:
High pressure will keep coastal areas from the Mid Atlantic to southern New England dry. Later today, the approaching frontal system will produce showers and snow in higher elevations from West Virginia to Upstate New York. Northern New England will receive 1 to 2 inch accumulations of snow. Gusty southwest winds are forecast for New England.
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
Aftershocks continue offshore western Puerto Rico following the magnitude 5.1 and 5.3 earthquakes that occurred early Saturday morning, December 17, 2011.Â*
Disaster Declaration Activity
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
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