Wednesday, January 4, 2012

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather:

Northeast:
Snow accumulations continue east of Lake Ontario, and light, scattered snow showers are forecast across the Great Lakes, Central Appalachians, and Interior Northeast. Breezy conditions remain in northwest Pennsylvania and western New York, with wind gusts up to 35 mph possible. Temperatures in the region will vary from near average to 15 degrees below average. Highs across northern New England will be in the teens and 20s.
South:
Today will be dry and partly cloudy over the southeast portion of the region, while light rain showers are expected to begin late Wednesday night along the southwest portion of the Gulf Coast. Temperatures are expected to push well below 32 degrees across most of Florida, and the NWS has issued widespread hard freeze and freeze warnings for the unusually cold temperatures this morning. Breezy conditions may develop later today across the Tennessee Valley and parts of the Southern Plains. Red Flag Warnings are in effect through this evening for portions of Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.
Midwest:
Snow showers near the Great Lakes and the Appalachians are expected to come to an end early this morning; however, scattered snow showers will resume later in the day as a new system moves into the area.
West:
A series of Pacific systems continue to bring widespread rain to the northwestern coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest and snow to the higher elevations of the Washington Cascades. High winds are forecast to continue in northern central Montana through Thursday evening. Winds of 30 to 40 mph are expected, with gusts of 75 mph in the canyons and passes.Â*(NOAA, National Weather Service and media sources)

NOAA Technology Helps American Red Cross Respond Faster:

A tool developed by the NOAA National Severe Storm Lab has cut disaster assessment time dramatically for the organizations, state, and federal agencies that have adopted it. The system receives data in real-time, then processes, analyzes, and displays the data in a way that is useful to people who need to diagnose severe weather quickly. The system uses the Internet to draw data from a nationwide network of weather radars, satellites, surface observations, and lightning detectors, and real-time information from the system can be plotted on maps.. Disaster teams can zoom in on the areas most damaged during a storm to assess which neighborhoods need assistance first and what roads they should take to get there. The American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma is using the NSSL Warning Decision Support System - Integrated Information to shorten the time it takes to deliver assistance to the neighborhoods ripped apart by tornadoes. Emergency responders are saving precious hours in the immediate aftermath of a devastating storm strike. “This technology cut our disaster assessment time down from 72 to 24 hours,” said a volunteer and disaster assessment team leader for the ARC of Central Oklahoma. researchmatters.noaa.gov/news/Pages/2011topstories.aspx
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* (SWPC)Â*
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)


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