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National Situation Update: Sunday, December 10, 2006

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

National Forecast

West
A system will spread rain and mountain snow into primarily northern and central California. Snow advisories and some winter storm warnings for the Sierra, Siskiyou, and coastal ranges where local amounts over a foot are possible.  Some light showers are possible in parts of the L.A. Basin, especially in Santa Barbara and Ventura County.  Moisture will also spread across the Great Basin, Wasatch, and northern Rockies, providing a light blanket of powder. This light snow should spread into the central and southern Rockies Sunday and Monday.   The Rockies and adjacent Front Range should be pleasant and mild. Forties should be common along Montana's Rocky Mountain front. Fifties as far north as Wyoming. Sixties could reach southeast Colorado.

Midwest
A weak cool front will temper the warm-up slightly in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest. Thirties in North Dakota to Upper Michigan. Fifties in Nebraska and Kansas, as well as Missouri, southwest Iowa, southern South Dakota, Kentucky and the southern parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.  A few sprinkles, flurries, or areas of freezing drizzle are possible from northern Minnesota to Upper Michigan along this front in the afternoon and evening.  Light snow, sleet, freezing rain, or rain will persist in the northern half of Minnesota and eastern North Dakota on Monday, as a band of rain spreads into eastern Missouri late in the day. 

South
Lows in the 20s in the Deep South.  Upper 50s should be the rule from North Carolina to the Tennessee Valley. Sixties in the western and central Gulf Coast, as well as much of the Lone Star State. A subtropical jet stream will maintain clouds near the Gulf Coast. Patchy light rain showers are possible along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, as well as the east coast of Florida. More concentrated rain should line up along a weak cool front from the Ozarks to the Upper Texas coast on Monday.

Northeast
Highs should reach into the low 50s in the Northeast Urban Corridor, with 40s elsewhere, including Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Hartford. 30s will cling to the Adirondacks and northern New England. Only a stray flurry or sprinkle can be expected in northern New England, as a frontal boundary slowly glides across the Canadian border.  Sunday night and Monday, a light blanket of 1-3" of snow is possible in Upstate New York as well as the high country of Vermont, New Hampshire, and northwest Maine. (National Weather Service)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Typhoon 25W (Utor), located approximately 144 miles south-southwest of Manila, Philippines, has tracked west-northwestward at 14 miles per hour. Winds in the area are estimated to be 115 to 144 mph. No U.S. territory is affected.  (NOAA, National Hurricane Center, Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

At 8:55 pm EST on December 9, 2006 a minor (3.2 magnitude) earthquake was reported at Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA.  No damage was reported.
At 12:41 pm EST on December 9, 2006 a series of minor (3.7 and 3.9 magnitude) earthquakes was reported 40 miles east of Port Alsworth, Alaska. No damage was reported.  (USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centers)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

Wildland fire activity was light throughout the United States this week with 251 new fires reported. Seven new large fires were reported: one each in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia; two each in Texas and California.  (National Interagency Fire Center)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)