Tuesday, December 14, 2010

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

Northeast
A strong low-pressure system over northern New England will continue to bring very cold air across the region. The cold air and counter clockwise flow over the Northeast will produce lake effect snow downwind from the Great Lakes into the central/northern Appalachians and into parts of Maine through Wednesday night.
Midwest
Unseasonably cold weather is expected through Friday, as 25 to 30 degrees below-average temperatures extend from the Upper Mississippi Valley to the Tennessee Valley. Lake effect snow, widespread snow showers and strong winds will continue downwind of the Great Lakes, with locally heavy snow accumulations within the narrow lake-effect bands. Low temperatures combined with dangerously cold wind chills will continue through midweek; lows may fall to near 30 below zero in parts of Minnesota. The chill is expected to continue through midweek. A new system forecast to develop in the Northern Plains will bring snow and a wintry mix to much of the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys late tonight and into Wednesday.
South
Temperatures are forecast to remain 25 degrees below average from the Tennessee Valley into Florida today, modifying rapidly to about 15 degrees below average on Wednesday. Hard freeze warnings continue across the Gulf Coast states into southeast Florida and the Florida Peninsula. Light snow is possible in the higher elevations of the eastern Tennessee Valley and the southern Appalachians. Breezy northwest winds of 10 to 15 mph with gusts to 30 mph will continue across most of the region through midweek.
West
Coastal rain and higher elevation snow is expected from northern and central California, parts of Washington State and Northern/Central Rockies throughout the day. As the cold front moves inland, precipitation will extend throughout the Intermountain area resulting in significant snowfall accumulations for the Cascades and regions of the Northern Rockies through tonight. Across the southern Great Basin and Mojave Desert, strong winds will increase and another day of near record warm temperatures is expected across southeast California and southern Arizona before cloudy skies and rain showers move in late Tuesday night. (NOAAâs National Weather Service, the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center and various media sources)
Winter Storm Response â Pacific Northwest Update

Â*On December 11, 2010, a major Pacific storm brought heavy rains to western Washington and northwestern Oregon. More than eight inches of rain fell across portions of northwestern Washington over the weekend with a number of locations breaking 24-hour rainfall total records, including Seattle, Tacoma, Airport, Olympia, Quillagute, Hoquiam, Bellingham, and Sandpoint. Major flooding was expected along at least seven rivers and Flood Warnings were in effect for all rivers across western Washington. Several rivers exceeded Major Flood Stage over the weekend; however, river levels have dropped more rapidly than expected and all rivers except the Snohomish River at Carnation are now below Moderate Flood Stage. The Howard Hanson Dam Reservoir level and the Green River below the dam has remained below flood stage throughout the storm.
Numerous landslides caused by the heavy rains caused the cancellation of Amtrak services between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, British Columbia, for 48 hours. Amtrak is out of service until Thursday for the Coast Starlight line from Los Angeles to Seattle, and the Cascades line between Eugene, OR and Vancouver, Canada due to mudslides and debris six miles north of Vancouver, WA. Sound Transit is also out of service until Thursday evening between Seattle and Everett, Washington due to mudslides ten miles north of Seattle. All slides are blockages; no damage to rail beds has been reported. All major highways are reported open with some lane closures for repair work.
Winter Storm Response â Upper Midwest Update

A very potent winter storm developed over the Northern Plains on Friday, December 10, and moved eastward into the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi Valley bringing heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions across much of the Upper Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes Region before ending Sunday evening, December 12. Snow totals ranged from a few inches to more than 20 inches in some locations. The combination of the heavy snow and strong winds caused significant blowing and drifting snow creating whiteout conditions in many areas. An additional 2 inches of snow is forecast in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on Tuesday. Lake effect snow will continue in parts of Michigan, northern Indiana and eastern Ohio. (National Weather Service)
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update

As of Friday, December 10, 2010, the National Fire Preparedness Level was at Level 1 (minimal large fire activity occurring nationally). For the week, initial attack activity was light (374 new fires) with three new large fires. One large fire remains uncontained in Florida. (NIFC/NICC)
Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)
No activity. (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

Vermont
On December 13, the Governor of Vermont requested a Major Disaster Declaration for the State of Vermont as a result of a severe storm during the period of December 1-5, 2010. The Governor is requesting Public Assistance for Chittenden, Franklin, and Lamoille Counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide. (FEMA HQ)
Stay informed of FEMA's activities online: videos and podcasts available at www.fema.gov/medialibrary and www.youtube.com/fema; follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fema and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fema.


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