Friday, September 17, 2010

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

West
Western Washington to coastal area of northern California will experience showers. Montana will also see showers and with temperatures only in the 40s, snow is possible in the higher elevations. The Desert Southwest will see temperatures up to 110 degrees.
Northeast
New England and Long Island will experience showers, otherwise most of New York and Pennsylvania will be clear. The Middle Atlantic will see high temperatures in the 80s while Upstate New York and New England will see highs only in the 60s.
Midwest
Isolated thunderstorms are forecast from the northern Great Lakes to the Central Plains. From eastern Nebraska to western Iowa, some thunderstorms could become severe. The eastern Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley will be dry and mostly sunny, while the western Dakotas will see showers. Parts of North Dakota could see morning low temperatures near or below freezing. The Southern Plains will see high temperatures in the low 90s while the Ohio Valley will see highs around 80 degrees.
South
Rain is expected in Southern Texas, some locally heavy, as Hurricane Karl makes landfall in Mexico.
Louisiana to Georgia could even see daily record high temperatures over the next few days. A few areas of the Southeast could see the beginning of drought conditions as the majority of the region will continue to remain dry.
(NOAA and media sources)

California Wildfire

The Canyon Fire in Kern County, CA, began on September 12, 2010 and received a FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant (2858-FM-CA) on September 15, 2010. The fire has burned 8,149 acres and is 65% contained.
(Kern County EOC; InciWeb)Â*

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico â 3 simultaneous hurricanes
Hurricane Igor is a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, located 730 miles south-southeast of Bermuda moving northwest at 9 mph. Hurricane force winds extend out 105 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend out 290 miles from the center. Tropical storm conditions are possible in Bermuda by late Saturday with hurricane conditions by Sunday. Large swells and rip currents are impacting the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and should affect the East Coast of the United States through the weekend.
Hurricane Julia is a Category 1 storm located 1,450 miles southwest of the Azores moving west-northwest at 24 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 85 mph with hurricane force winds extending out 35 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extending out 115 miles. The storm is expected to weaken further today as it heads north through the weekend.
Hurricane Karl is also a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. This storm is located 50 miles northeast of Veracruz, Mexico moving west at 9 mph. There are hurricane watches and warnings and tropical storm warnings in effect for most of the Mexican east coast since Karl is forecast to make landfall later today and move into mainland Mexico this weekend. The storm is expected to bring 5 to 10 inches of rain to the central and southern Mexican Gulf Coast and up to 15 inches of rain to the interior mountain region.
Another tropical system has just emerged of the coast of Africa and is located a few hundred miles south of the Cape Verde islands. This system may develop during the next few days as it drifts west-northwest. There is a low chance, near 10 percent, of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.
Eastern PacificÂ*
A stationary low pressure area is located about 650 miles west-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. There is a low chance, near 20 percent, of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.
Central and Western PacificÂ*
No tropical cyclones are expected during the next 48 hours.
(NOAA, JTWC)Â*

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update

National Preparedness Level: 2
National Fire Activity as of Thursday, September 16, 2010:Â*
Initial attack activity: light (95 new fires), new large fires: 4, large contained fires: 3
Uncontained large fires: 6, Type 1 IMTs committed: 1, Type 2 IMTs committed: 2
U.S. States affected:Â* CO, CA, UT, ID, NV, FL, AL, OR, and AR.
(NIFC)

Disaster Declaration Activity

Amendment #5 to FEMA-1931-DR-TX makes Lubbock County, Texas eligible for the Individual Assistance program.
Amendment #1 to FEMA-3315-EM-TX closes the incident period for this disaster to September 4, 2010.
(HQ FEMA)



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