Wednesday, April 21, 2010

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

West
The storm system over the Great Basin continues to move slowly eastward to the Rockies, producing rain and higher elevation snow along portions of the entire West Coast through tonight. By later today, the precipitation is expected to reach Wyoming, Colorado, and northern New Mexico. The thunderstorms could bring locally heavy rain and strong wind gusts. Colder air behind the system could bring snow levels down to 3,500 feet in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, with the higher mountains of the central Sierra possibly receiving as much as a foot and a half of snow. Temperatures will be 10 to 15 degrees below average over the southwestern corner of the region. Overnight, showers from the system will extend as far south as San Diego. Isolated thunderstorms are also possible today in Las Vegas, with other thunderstorms forecast to develop this afternoon and evening across the central Rocky Mountains in southern Wyoming, Colorado, and northern New Mexico.Â*
Northeast
A weak frontal system will bring a chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms to northern New England, eastern portions of New York and Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. South Jersey, eastern Maryland, Delaware and eastern Virginia will see more concentrated showers as a weak storm moves just south of the region.
Midwest
The overnight showers in Nebraska and Kansas will move into Iowa and Missouri today. Rainfall amounts will be only a tenth to a quarter of an inch. Morning low temperatures in the 30s across northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan, could bring morning frost.
South
The scattered shower and thunderstorms from last night will gradually shift into the Carolinas today. The precipitation will be confined to the eastern sections of Virginia and North Carolina. The rainfall could help ease the extremely high pollen counts in the region. An overnight chance of thunderstorms across Oklahoma will move into western Arkansas today.Â*(NOAA, National Weather Service and media sources)Â*
Texas Tornado Activity

The Texas State Operations Center received reports of four tornadoes touching down in Texas last night. Two touchdowns in Randall County, one in Potter County, and the fourth was reported near the city of Happy, along the Randall and Swisher County line. There were no reports of injuries or damages.
NOAAâs Storm Prediction Center reports there is a significant potential for severe thunderstorms in Texas and into the lower Mississippi Valley later this week. Specifically there is a strong potential for large hail, damaging winds, and more tornado activity.Â* Texas may be impacted on Friday, moving into Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee on Saturday.Â* (State of Texas State Operations Center, Denton MOC, NOAA)Â*
Volcanic Activity

Eyjafjalla, Iceland Volcano Update
Volcanic eruptions continued on Tuesday, April 20, although the ash was at levels below 20,000 feet.
Under an agreement reached on Monday, April 19, to reopen European air space, aviation authorities planned to divide the airspace above the continent into three zones: the zone closest to the volcano would completely restrict air traffic, another zone would set up partial restrictions on flights, and the third zone, which is free of ash, would allow flights to resume completely.
Currently, in the upper airspace above 20,000 feet, all European airspace is available, except for Finland, which remains closed at all levels. Almost 75% of the total continent area is free of any restrictions. This area includes Austria, the Balkan area, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, southern France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, northern Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the Ukraine.
EUROCONTROL expected 14,000 flights to take place in European airspace on April 20, which is half the normally scheduled air traffic. EUROCONTROL estimated that more than 95,000 flights will have been cancelled since Thursday, April 15 but predicts close to normal takeoffs by Friday.
Recent volcanic eruptions have decreased, but any new ash eruptions over the summit could reach as high as 16,000 feet. The continual lava buildup on the volcano, occurring while the glacier continues to melt, could lead to higher flight level eruptions. Scientists are worried that the recent eruption could trigger an even larger eruption at nearby Katla volcano, which had its last major eruption in 1918. The activity of one volcano sometimes triggers the next volcano, and Katla has been active together with Eyjafjallajokull in the past. Volcano experts say that should such an eruption occur, air travelers could expect more flight disruptions, depending on prevailing winds.
While seismic activity at the volcano has increased, the ash plume appears to be shrinking, but not moving very quickly. The plume is being held over Britain by a high pressure system that shows no signs of changing. It is unusual to have such a static weather pattern for such a long period of time.
Officials predict that it will take weeks before all stranded travelers can be brought home. Passengers with current tickets are being given priority, while those who have been stranded for days are being told to either buy a new ticket or try using the old one, which could take days or weeks, to wait for the next available seat. Some carriers are using bigger planes and more flights, while others are hiring buses, to get their passengers to their destinations.Â*(MET OFFICE, EUROCONTROL - April 20, FAA, Various News Sources)Â*
Space Shuttle Discovery Returns Safely to Earth

Space Shuttle Discovery returned safely to earth on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, landing at 9:08 a.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Shuttle Discovery ended its 15 day mission at the International Space Station by flying over the Midwestern United States. Normally, NASA prefers to bring a shuttle home over the southwest, up over the South Pacific, Central America, and the Gulf of Mexico, to minimize flying over heavily populated areas. This time, NASA wanted to maximize the crewâs work time in orbit, while minimizing their fatigue, by using a North American crossing.
Shuttle Discovery was originally scheduled to land on Monday, April 19, but the landing was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. The poor weather conditions also delayed the move of Shuttle Atlantis from its hangar to the launch pad, rescheduling the move to Wednesday, April 21, at 6:00 a.m. EDT, weather permitting. Liftoff is targeted for May 14, 2010.
Shuttle Discoveryâs mission was to bring 7 tons of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. It arrived at the Space Station on April 7, and stayed 10 days. The main delivery was a tank full of ammonia coolant, which took three spacewalks to hook up. Discovery also returned with a couple of tons of trash and discarded space station equipment.
This was Discoveryâs next-to-last flight. Its final shuttle flight is scheduled for September. Only three shuttle missions remain before the fleet is retired after 30 years of operation. Atlantis is scheduled to carry up a small Russian lab and other equipment in May, Endeavour is scheduled to launch in July, and Discovery is scheduled to launch in September.(NASA, Various Media Sources)Â*
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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