Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)
Significant National Weather:
West:
Moderate snow accumulations along with unseasonably cold temperatures are expected across New Mexico into west Texas. Northwest Washington and the Northern Cascades will see rain and higher elevation snow with the Olympic Mountain Range seeing the greatest totals through Saturday.
Midwest:
A weak upper level disturbance will reach the upper Great Lakes later today bringing light snow showers to the Upper Mississippi Valley with precipitation tapering off by Saturday morning. Accumulations are expected to be light, followed by warmer temperatures toward the latter half of the weekend.
Northeast:
An area of low pressure will exit rapidly north-eastward from the Northern Mid-Atlantic this morning bringing an end to the rain and snow currently falling in the Northeast. Light snow accumulations are expected for Northern New York and New England by this afternoon before tapering off to light snow showers for later today. Cold temperatures can be expected across northern New England today and Saturday where portions of Maine will only reach high temperatures in the teens.
South:
Dry conditions and near normal temperatures are expected to return to much of the South today. A chance of rain will return on Saturday, mainly across the Deep South. The rain will linger across much of the South through Christmas Day.
(NOAA, National Weather Service and media sources)Â*
Severe Weather â Southeast:
A Strong storm system brought severe weather to Gulf Coast states on Thursday. Damaging winds were reported from Louisiana to Georgia.Â* An EF-0 tornado was reported in Shelby County, Alabama.Â* Primary damage was to trees and power lines. However, several homes did receive minor damage to roofs and siding.Â* No major power outages or injuries were reported.Â* There was no request for FEMA assistance.Â*(NOAA, AL EMA, FEMA Region IV)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* (SWPC)Â*
Tropical Weather Outlook
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity
Three major earthquakes (Magnitude 5.8, 5.3 and 5.9) struck near Christchurch, New Zealand between 8:00 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 22. The earthquakes were considered aftershocks from the M6.3 earthquake that struck on Feb. 22, 2011.
The New Zealand Minister of Civil Defence and Emergency Management activated the New Zealand National Crisis Management Centre in response to the quake event; but the NCMC stood down at 1:00 a.m. EST on Friday 23 Dec. The Christchurch City Council activated the Christchurch Emergency Operations Centre in central Christchurch. Christchurch Civil Defence reported that the situation in the city was not as bad as it was in September or February following other earthquakes; and there were no plans to declare a state of emergency in Christchurch.
Christchurch Civil Defence staff flew over the city by helicopter and reported rockfalls [rockslides] in several locations but no major landslips [landslides].Â* Additional damage to the Christchurch Cathedral and other buildings in the city was also reported.
Liquefaction was reported in areas east of Christchurch with flooding reported on some roads.Â* The Council is currently inspecting roads and other infrastructure.Â* No damage was reported to critical bridges.Â* The Christchurch International Airport that had been evacuated has now reopened and has resumed normal operations.
Approximately 13,000 homes (down from 26,000) were reported without power, mainly in the Brighton area; most homes were expected to have power restored by last night.
Disaster Declaration Activity
Major Disaster Declaration FEMA-4050-DR-Alaska
On Dec. 22, 2011, the President approved a major disaster declaration for Alaska for the Severe Winter Storms and Flooding that occurred November 8-10, 2011.Â*
The declaration provides Public Assistance for the North Slope Borough, the Bering Strait Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA), the Lower Kuskokwim REAA, the Lower Yukon REAA, and the Southwest Region REAA.Â* All boroughs and REAAs in the State of Alaska are eligible to apply for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.Â*(FEMA HQ)
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