Tuesday, November 15, 2011

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

South
Showers and thunderstorms are possible today from parts of eastern Oklahoma and Texas through the Lower Mississippi Valley into the Tennessee Valley and the Southern Appalachians. Severe storms and locally heavy rainfall are also possible from eastern parts of Texas and Oklahoma into western Alabama today and tonight. Much of the region will be much warmer than average, with a few spots threatening record highs ranging from around 60 in the Oklahoma Panhandle and the mountains of western Virginia to around 90 in Deep South Texas.
Midwest
A storm system moving through the Ohio Valley will bring rain and thunderstorms today and tonight, with locally heavy rainfall possible. Another system moving through the Northern Tier will also bring some snow showers from eastern North Dakota to Upper Michigan. Breezy and windy conditions are possible for the Northern Plains, Upper Mississippi Valley, and the western Great Lakes, with highs ranging from around 30 in northern North Dakota to the upper 60s in the Ozarks and the Mid-Mississippi Valley.
West
Snow showers are possible today and tonight in parts of the Northern and Central Rockies. After a few showers today along the Pacific Northwest Coast, another system will begin to approach tonight bringing an increasing chance of rain and mountain snow. Cooler than average temperatures can be expected in the Northern Rockies and Northern High Plains, as well as along the Southern California Coast.
Northeast
Showers are possible for the entire region today, with the greatest chance of rain in the Central Appalachian. Rain will continue after dark in the Mid-Atlantic, southern New York, and Southern New England. Mild temperatures are expected across the region, with highs in mostly the 50s & 60s, with some 70s on the Delmarva Peninsula. (NOAA, National Weather Service and media sources)

Severe Storms in Western Alaska

Communities along the western coast of Alaska continue to survey for damage caused by last weekâs severe winter storm. The Alaska State Emergency Coordination Center (SECC) has received reports of isolated residential, infrastructure, and road damage in communities along its western coast. The State and FEMA will deploy joint Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) teams tomorrow, November 16, 2011, to communities in affected areas to provide information in support of State and Federal disaster declaration decisions. PDA assessments should be completed by November 21. The SECC is operating at Level 3 (partially activated) and is staffed for extended hours to support the PDA team deployments and to receive any requests for assistance or local emergency/disaster declarations. Currently there are no requests for State assistance.
Federal Geographic Data Committee Launches New Geospatial Website

Â*The federal government and its geospatial partners recently unveiled www.geoplatform.gov, a prototype Geospatial Platform website providing an initial view of the future of user-friendly, integrated, federal data collections on common geographic maps.
This prototype version of the Geospatial Platform combines map-based data and tools with the latest internet technologies to deliver geospatial information in a simple, understandable package. Usersâincluding the public, federal agencies and their partnersâcan easily find federally-maintained geospatial data, services and applications, as well as access data from partners across State, Tribal, Regional and local governments.
Through the website, users can create their own maps by combining their data with public domain data and can collaborate in public and private groups with others who share their interests. Maps assembled through the Geospatial Platform can be shared with others through web browsers and mobile technologies.
The Geospatial Platform has been developed as a partnership among the member agencies of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), an interagency committee composed of representatives from the Executive Office of the President, and Cabinet level and other independent Federal agencies. The FGDC promotes the coordinated development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis. Examples of the information available on the initial version of the Geospatial Platform include environmental clean-up data from EPA and coastal environmental sensitivity data and historic hurricane data from NOAA.
These data sets could be combined on a topographic map to assess hurricane vulnerability in coastal areas. The Geospatial Platform is a work in progress that will continue to be refined, updated, and refreshed over the next several months with additional data, services and tools, based on user feedback and partner inputs. Additional information about the FGDC is available at www.fgdc.gov.Â*

Space Weather

No space weather storms were observed during the past 24 hours and none are predicted
Significant Events

This yearâs Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2011 Summit was held in Honolulu, HI, from November 7-13, 2011, with over 30 world leaders participating in the event. With the conclusion of the summit, the Hawaii State EOC stood down operations at 9:15 p.m. EST Monday, November 14, 2011, and the Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) closed at 6:00 p.m. EST.
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)


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