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National Situation Update: Monday, January 8, 2007

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

National Weather Summary

South
Showers or thundershowers over the Florida Peninsula.  Sunshine is expected to prevail from Georgia westward into Texas and Oklahoma. Winds will be gusty across much of the region.  High temperatures ranging from the 40s in Tennessee to the 70s and 80s on the southern Florida Peninsula.

West
Rain and mountain snow in Washington and northern Oregon. Scattered rain and snow showers will extend eastward into western Montana and western Wyoming. Santa Ana winds in Southern California, strong winds off the Rockies in eastern Colorado. High temperatures are to range from the 20s in parts of the Rockies to the 70s in Southern California and southwest Arizona. The Central Valley of California will enjoy highs in the 60s.

Northeast
The precipitation will be mainly locally heavy rain, with sleet and snow in northern New Hampshire and Maine. The wintry mix there will gradually change over to freezing rain and rain, but snow and sleet in far northern Maine with several inches of accumulation possible. Snow showers during the afternoon from northern and western New York southward to the West Virginia mountains. High temperatures are forecast to range from the 30s in northern and western sections of the region to the 60s in far southeast Virginia.  Boston to Washington will top out in the 50s.

Midwest
Light snow, one or two inches at most from North Dakota into northern Illinois. A few morning snow showers from Michigan into the upper Ohio Valley should give way to dry conditions in the afternoon.
Winds will be quite strong across much of the region, especially on the Great Plains where gusts may reach 60 mph. High temperatures, will range from the 20s in North Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the 50s in eastern Kansas and southern Missouri.  (NWS, Media Sources)

Colorado Winter Storm Update

Colorado State EOC ceased operations at 8:00 pm EST, January 6, 2007
National Guard continues to scale back operations as counties become more responsive. Current Guard missions include life safety and ground based livestock feeding with approximately 35 personnel.
All southeastern counties have 99% of paved roads open.
All local equipment and personnel needs are being met at this time.
One shelter (Springfield High School) continues to be on standby with food, cots, and blankets, but as of this time there are no occupants.
FEMA Region VIII RRCC stood down at 9:00 pm EST January 6, 2007.  Regional operations staff continue to maintain active contact with the state to obtain updates and be available for response.
No further incident reports for this event will be issued unless additional significant activity occurs. (FEMA Region VIII)

Nebraska Winter Storm Update

The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is reporting approximately 9,461 customers out of service.  There are 630 Public Power District (PPD) and 250 contracted employees working 24/7 on electric infrastructure repair and restoration
Shelters open and close daily due to power off and on and off again in damaged areas.  Currently numbers include 6 shelters (22 now closed) and 1 on standby that housed 11 occupants (previous occupants 33 with some shelters not reporting occupant numbers).  These shelters are also being used as feeding and warming facilities.  No shortfalls are reported in facilities, food, or water at this time.  State Health authorities and American Red Cross are coordinating to meet needs of special needs populations.
Northwest winds will increase again today with initial winds of 25 to 35 mph likely in the morning, but Northwest winds sustained near 40 mph are expected in the afternoon.  Wind gusts in excess of 55 mph are possible.  Such strong winds could cause minor damage, especially to trees and power lines weakened by the recent ice storm in parts of the warning area.  Power recovery efforts will be significantly hampered and some power outages may occur. 
The major needs continue to be the restoration of power and to gather more accurate damage assessments.  
The State EOC operating hours are from 8:30 am EST to 7:00 pm EST. 
State EMA staff have called emergency managers in the 57 affected counties for situational updates.
FEMA Region VII is at Level 2, operating hours 9:00 am - 8:00 pm EST, and is in contact with the state EMA for incident updates and briefings.  Potential for Federal involvement is unknown at this time.
The RVII RRCC is housing ESF representatives from the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy and the American Red Cross, as well as AmeriCorps and Department of Defense.  A local representative from the U.S. Corps of Engineers is also be available.  At FEMA Region VII direction, ESF-12 has deployed one of the DOE representatives to the Nebraska Multi-Agency Coordination Center in Grand Island, NE (FEMA Region VII)

Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

A 5.0 magnitude earthquake was reported at 10:33 a.m. EST Sunday, 106 miles southeast of Perryville, AK.  ( USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Earthquake Information Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centers, media sources)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

Light fire activity was reported for the week ending January 5, 2007. A total of 34 new fires were reported throughout the country. No new large fires were reported or contained. Fire potential is expected to increase in southern California through Monday due to Santa Ana winds along with warmer and drier weather. These winds should diminish late Monday. Tuesday is expected to be cooler with rain predicted for Thursday.  (National Interagency Fire Center)

Disaster Declaration Activity

January 7, 2007, FEMA-3270-EM-CO, an Emergency Declaration was approved for Public Assistance for 13 counties. Incident: Snow.  Incident Period: December 18-22, 2006.
January 7, 2007, FEMA-3271-EM-CO an Emergency Declaration was approved for Public Assistance for one county.  Incident: Snow.  Incident Period:  December 28-31, 2006
January 7, 2007, a Disaster Declaration for FEMA-1674-DR-NE, was approved for 57 counties for Public Assistance and all counties for Hazard Mitigation. Incident: Severe Winter Storm.  Incident Period: November 5-8, 2006.
January 7, 2007, a Disaster Declaration for FEMA-1675-DR-KS, was approved for 44 counties for Public Assistance and all counties for Hazard Mitigation. Incident: Severe Winter Storms.  Incident Period: November 30 - December 2, 2006.  (FEMA HQ)