Friday, November 19, 2010

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

West
Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories will remain in effect through the weekend across portions of the Pacific Northwest, northern California, the northern Intermountain West and Northern Rockies. High temperatures across the Northwest will be in the 30s and 40s and rain is in the forecast all the way down to the Mexican border. Cold and rainy conditions will continue along the Pacific Northwest coast with snow falling at higher elevations. The Lake Tahoe area will see heavy snow and very strong winds of 60 mph today; on Saturday, wind gusts at ridge tops could reach 90 to 100 mph. At elevations above 6000 feet, snow accumulations may be one to two feet, above 7000 feet, snowfall levels may reach two to four feet. Bitterly cold temperatures are moving into some portions of Montana, producing highs in the single digits and lows below zero.
Midwest
High temperatures will only reach into the teens in northern sections of North Dakota while northern Minnesota will see temperatures in the 20s with scattered snow showers. Areas of northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan can expect wind gusts in excess of 40 mph.
Northeast
Scattered snow showers are expected across portions of northern Vermont and New Hampshire this morning. On Saturday, a cold front moving east from the Great Lakes will bring rain and snow to New England.
South
The weekend will be warm and dry with temperatures in the 60s across much of the Southeast, the 70s over most of Texas and the Gulf coast, and the 80s over central and southern Florida. Red Flag Warnings in the Florida Panhandle and Texas Big Bend areas continue due to the long duration of low relative humidity.
(NOAA and media sources)
Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico
A weak area of low pressure located off the coast of Honduras is not conducive for development so there is a low chance, near 10 percent, of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 12 hours as it moves inland. Regardless of development, the system is expected to produce locally heavy rainfall over portions of Belize, Guatemala, and the southern Yucatan Peninsula during the next few days.
Central, Eastern, and Western Pacific
Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours.
(NOAA, JTWC)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update

Wildfire National Fire Activity as of Thursday, November 18, 2010:
National Preparedness: level 1, initial attack activity: light (17 new fires)
New large fires: 1, large fires contained: 0, uncontained large fires: 3
U.S. States affected: FL, TX, VA, GA, CA and IN.
(NIFC)
Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)
No activity.
(HQ FEMA)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (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.


More...