Tuesday, February 8, 2011

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

South:
More cold air is moving into the region as a windy western storm begins to move into the Southern Plains. During the day, snow will begin to fall across northwest Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. Tonight and Wednesday, heavy snow will move eastward across the Southern Plains with lighter snow moving into the Tennessee Valley.Â* Oklahoma and Arkansas could receiveÂ* six to 12 inches of snow.
Across northern Texas, rain will change to sleet and some freezing rain, then to snow. Rain is forecast for the remainder of eastern Texas, the Lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley. Temperatures will vary from near average to 20 degrees below average. Highs will range from the 20s in northwest Oklahoma.
Midwest:
Behind the Northeast storm, snow showers and flurries will linger in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Michigan will receive a few additional inches of lake-effect snow. An emerging windy western storm will bring snow to Nebraska, Kansas and western Missouri. Accumulations in Kansas will reach into the 6 to 12 inch range by midweek. Temperatures will be 10 to 30 degrees below average. Highs will be mainly in the single digits and teens, but, across southern Missouri, along the Ohio River and in Kentucky, afternoon readings will edge through the 20s and possibly into the low 30s.
Northeast:
Light snow/rain will end early today across the Mid-Atlantic. The snow across New York will taper off by the afternoon while the snow across New England will continue until the evening. Trace amounts of snow are forecast from New York City to Cape Cod. From south of New York City to central and eastern Virginia, no snow accumulations are expected.Â* Across Upstate New York and most of New England, snow will be generally in the one to five-inch range with some locations southeast of Lake Ontario and across northern Maine possibly topping six inches. Temperatures will vary from near average to 20 degrees below average. Highs will range from the teens in the eastern Great Lakes to the low 40s in southeast Virginia.
West:
Light snow will linger from the Northern Rockies to the Central Plains. Heavy snow is forecast across Colorado and northern New Mexico. Colorado will receive as much as five to 10 inches of snow across the lower elevations, including Denver, with well over a foot in the higher mountains. Blowing and drifting snow is forecast across the High Plains due to gusty northeast winds. Gusty winds are forecast across the Southwest from the mountains of Southern California, through portions of Nevada and the lower Colorado River Valley, to New Mexico. Gusts will occasionally top 50 mph. Temperatures near average from are expected Washington to California and along the Mexican border, but five to 35 degrees below average in the interior. Highs will range from the single digits and teens in Montana and Wyoming.Â*
Â*(National Weather Service, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, and various media sources)

Its Official: The sun is a sphere

NASA's twin STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory*) probes moved into position Feb. 6 on opposite sides of the sun, and they are now beaming back uninterrupted images of the entire star - front and back.Â*
Each STEREO probe photographs half of the star and beams the images to Earth. Researchers combine the two views to create a sphere. These aren't just regular pictures, however. STEREO's telescopes are tuned to four wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet radiation selected to trace key aspects of solar activity, including uchas flares, tsunamis and magnetic filaments. Nothing escapes their attention.
STEREO is the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program. The mission, launched in Oct. 2006, has provided a unique and revolutionary view of the Sun-Earth System. The two nearly identical observatories - one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind - have traced the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to Earth.
STEREO has revealed the 3-D structure of coronal mass ejections; violent eruptions of matter from the sun that can disrupt satellites and power grids, and help us understand why they happen. STEREO serves as a key addition to the fleet of space weather detection satellites by providing more accurate alerts for the arrival time of Earth-directed solar ejections with its unique side-viewing perspective.
In the past, an active sunspot could emerge on the far side of the sun completely hidden from Earth. Then, the sun's rotation could turn that region toward our planet, spitting flares and clouds of plasma, with little warning.
"Not anymore," says Bill Murtagh, a senior forecaster at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo. "Farside active regions can no longer take us by surprise. Thanks to STEREO, we know they're coming."
NOAA is already using 3-D STEREO models of CMEs (billion-ton clouds of plasma ejected by the sun) to improve space weather forecasts for airlines, power companies, satellite operators, and other customers. The full sun view should improve those forecasts even more.
Observing solar storms from two points of view has allowed forecasters to made 3-D models of advancing coronal mass ejections (CMEs), improving predictions of Earth impacts. The forecasting benefits aren't limited to Earth. With this global model, we can now track solar storms heading toward other planets, too.Â*Â*
This is important for NASA missions to Mercury and Mars as well as asteroids. NASA has been building toward this moment since Oct. 2006 when the
(Excerpt from NASA:Â*Â*http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/st...ntire-sun.html;Â* For more information about STEREO, please visit âºÂ*www.nasa.gov/stereo. )
Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Earthquake Activity

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011, at 2:44 a.m. Eastern Standard Ttime, a 4.7-magnitude earthquake occurred approximately 283 miles west southwest of Portland, Ore., at a depth of 6.3 miles. The earthquake occurred in the Cascadia fault.Â* There were no reports of damage or injury and no tsunami was generated.Â*Â*(USGS, West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center)Â*
Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update

National Fire Activity as of Friday, February 4, 2011:
New large fires:Â* 20
Large fires contained:Â* 20
Uncontained large fires:Â* 0
States Affected: Okla., Texas, Fla., and Ark., Ariz., Kan. (NIFC)Â*
Disaster Declaration Activity

No activity. (FEMA)


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