Thursday, January 12, 2012

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather:

Northeast
A winter storm will bring heavy snow and freezing rain to portions of the Great Lakes and the Northeast through Friday. Snowfall is expected to reach 1-3 inches in northern New York and central New England before changing to a wintry mix of snow, sleet and rain this evening. Moderate snow is expected across northern New England and Maine. Light to moderate rain will develop across most of the Mid-Atlantic and the coast of southern New England late today or Thursday. Temperatures will be 10 to 15 degrees above average for the northern Mid-Atlantic area.
Midwest
A return of wintry weather and colder temperatures are forecast over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes today. The primary threats are snow and strong winds. Snow accumulation of 2 to 6 inches is possible in portions of Wisconsin and Illinois. The strong northerly winds will produce blowing and drifting snow, causing poor visibility from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan southward through Wisconsin and into northern Illinois. Below normal temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees are forecast for the Plains and Mississippi Valley.
West
Generally dry weather is expected for much of the Region through Friday. Santa Ana winds are possible around the Southern California area through the weekend. Below normal temperatures are expected this morning across the Rockies, Intermountain West and along the California Coast.
South
Light rain is expected into the afternoon in Kentucky and Tennessee before turning into snow in the evening. Light to moderate rain will develop across most of the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic late today or Thursday. Temperatures 15 to 25 degrees below seasonal are expected in Western Texas.
Severe Weather in western North Carolina:

A severe weather system moved through three counties in the Charlotte area, producing strong winds, hail, heavy rain and possible tornado activity at approximately 5:15 p.m. EST Wednesday night. In Rutherford County, 10 to 12 homes were affected and two mobile homes were destroyed. A shelter has been established at Salem Church. There has been a State of Emergency declared in Burke County, approximately 50 homes were affected and Rutherford Electric Service is reporting over 5,000 customers are without power. Damage assessments will begin Thursday morning. Four to five minor injuries have been reported and one shelter has been established. The third county affected, Caldwell County, local emergency managers have reported damage to the marina and numerous boats docked at the location. The North Carolina Emergency Operations Center (EOC) remains at Activation Level 4 for a prior event (Hurricane Irene). The FEMA Region IV Regional Recovery Coordination Center is at Watch/Steady State. The Region IV Watch Center maintains 24/7 operations and will continue to work with the State EOC to monitor the situation.
Nome Alaska Energy Support

The Russian Tanker Renda and USCG Cutter HEALY continue to transit the ice to Nome. The Ships are approximately 109 miles from Nome. An ice navigator is scheduled to board HEALY today to aid in navigation. The ships are moving into thinner and broken ice; but increasing winds will result in dynamic ice movement. Contingencies remain in place for over-the-ice fuel transfer of Rendaâs 1.3 million gallon fuel oil payload. There is no request for FEMA assistance.
Space Weather:

No space weather storms were observed over the past 24 hours. 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)
Wildfire Update

Wildland Fire potential Outlook, January through April, 2012:
The Predictive Services section at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) has issued their National Wildland Significant Fire Potential Outlook for January through April, 2012. According to their prediction, most of the United States is in for a quiet first part of the year with the exception of parts of Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.
According to NIFC, the primary factors influencing these outlooks are:
La Niña: La Niña conditions will continue over the tropical Pacific and typical weather patterns will return to the U.S. after intra-seasonal circulations disrupted the classic La Niña patterns over North America in December.
Drought: Significantly above normal precipitation fell in December over parts of the front range of the southern Rockies, the Central Plains and the Ohio Valley. Parts of central and west Texas, southwest New Mexico and southern Arizona also received above normal precipitation. Much of the West, the central and southern Rockies, the northern Plains and Florida received less than 50 percent of normal precipitation for the month.
Fuel Dryness: Fuel conditions continue to improve across most of the United States. As winter progresses and La Niña returns the northern tier of the country, we will see fuel conditions that are not conducive to significant fires. The far southern portions of the country; however, will begin to experience drier and warmer periods as La Niña sets in. Even though these will not be as strong as last year, expect fuels conditions to dry significantly and support significant fires across the Southwest and the far Southeast. (NIFC) See: www.nifc.gov/nicc/predictive/outlooks/monthly_seasonal_outlook.pdf
Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)


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