Tuesday, March 6, 2012

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather:

West
Snow is expected over parts of the Pacific Northwest, Northern and Central Rockies, parts of the Great Basin and higher elevations of northern and central California. Rain is expected over parts of central and southern California through Wednesday morning. Winds from 25 to 35-mph, with gusts up toÂ* 60-mph, are expected from interior southern California, across the Southwest and into southern Utah and northern Arizona through this evening. These winds, combined with low relative humidity and warm temperatures, will result in critical fire weather conditions for southern Arizona, New Mexico, southeastern Wyoming and the Lower Colorado River Valley.
Northeast
With the exception of the Great Lakes and New York, where patchy areas of rain and snow near the Canadian border will continue, precipitation has come to an end across the region. Winds will increase across western Pennsylvania and western New York this afternoon. Below normal temperatures are forecast for the New England and the Mid-Atlantic area, where lows will range from 0 degrees near the Canadian border to the 20s in Virginia.
South
Sunny skies will extend from the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Southeast with the exception of portions of the central Texas and the eastern coast of southern Florida, where scattered showers are expected. Above normal temperatures are expected for the Southern High Plains, with temperature highs expected to be 10 to 20 degrees above average.
Midwest
A front extending from the Northern High Plains southwestward to central California will move eastward, delivering snow to the Upper Great Lakes and Central Plains through Wednesday evening.Â* Sunny to partly cloudy conditions are expected across the region. Sustained winds of 30 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph, are forecast across Kansas and Missouri.Â*

Severe Weather Outbreaks - Update

Â*
Severe thunderstorms began in the Midwest on February 28, 2012, and moved across the Ohio & Tennessee Valleys through February 29, 2012. A second system began in the Midwest on March 2, 2012, and moved across the Ohio & Tennessee Valleys and into the Southeast US through March 3, 2012. These two storm systems created high winds, large hail, heavy rain, and tornadoes. National Weather Service ground teams continue to conduct surveys, confirming 13 more tornado touchdowns for a total of 77 confirmed tornadoes across 14 states. Approximately 8,601 customers remain without power across Kentucky and Tennessee; all other States report full restoration or fewer than 1,000 outages. The U.S. Department of Energy reported peak outages of nearly 157,000 for states affected by the storms. Power to water treatment plants in Kentucky has been restored, cutting the number of customers without water service from nearly 30,000 to 15,500. American Red Cross and partner shelters remained open in only two states; fourteen in Kentucky with 145 occupants and five in Illinois, with no occupants.
Although response activities continue, the local, state and federal focus is moving toward recovery operations. State Emergency Operations Centers remain open in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments (PDAs) are ongoing in Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. PDAs in Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee are scheduled to begin today. FEMA Regional Administrators remain in contact with officials in the affected states and no unmet needs have been identified. The FEMA Region VII Regional Response Coordination Center remains at Level III (partial activation); all other FEMA Regions and the FEMA National Watch Center have returned to Watch/Steady State. FEMA Region IV deployed an Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) and a Liaison Officer (LNO) to the Interim Operating Facility in Frankfort, Kentucky, and additional LNOs have been identified and are on standby for Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. FEMA Region V IMAT and one LNO remain deployed to the Indiana State EOC. The FEMA Logistics Incident Support Base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky remains operational with pre-positioned commodities and medical kits.Â*
Space Weather:

Space weather for the past 24 hours has been minor. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor, with radio blackouts reaching the R1 level expected.
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Disaster Declaration Activity

Washington
On March 5, 2012, the President signed Major Disaster Declaration FEMA-4056-DR for the State of Washington for Severe Winter Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides that occurred during the incident period January 14-23, 2012. The declaration provides for Public Assistance for Clallam, Grays Harbor, King, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Pierce, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, and Wahkiakum counties, and Hazard Mitigation statewide.


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