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National Situation Update: Saturday, January 5, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

West:
A strong cold front associated with an intense storm off the West Coast has pushed eastward across the West Coast and moving over southern California bringing heavy rain in the lower elevations and blizzard conditions in the Sierra.

Blizzard warnings and winter storm warnings are in effect for mountainous portions of the western U.S. eastward to the Rocky Mountain states. Gale and storm warnings are in effect off the entire West Coast. Flash flood watches and warnings are in effect for portions of northwestern, southern, and eastern California. For a detailed graphical depiction of the latest watches and warnings see www.weather.gov.

High winds have been responsible for downed trees, power outages, and overturned trucks in several western states with highest winds (more than 100 mph) reported ahead of and near the cold front from central California through Nevada, Idaho, western Montana and Utah.  Strongest winds have been reported at the highest elevations and are producing severe blizzard conditions across the Sierra.

Moderate to heavy rain will move through southern California early today. Blizzard conditions and heavy snow begin to subside overnight across the Sierra as the cold front moves further east. The cold front will continue to move across the intermountain West spreading higher-elevation snow into Arizona, Utah, western Colorado, Wyoming and northwestern new Mexico. Additional rain and mountain snow are likely along the coastal ranges in the Pacific Northwest

Snow levels will plunge to between 500 feet in the Washington Cascades and 1500 to 2500 feet in the Sierra by Sunday. Snow totals could approach 12 feet on a few mountain tops in the Sierra and will generally reach 2 to 3 feet in the Utah and Colorado mountains. Avalanches will continue to be a threat across the entire western region.

Midwest:
A trough of low pressure combined with a low centered over Oklahoma will produce rain and showers from the lower Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley.  Gusty south to southwest winds will move warm air northward over the Plains and Midwest this weekend. Temperatures will be 10 to 25 degrees above average across most of the Plains and Midwest. Snow melt and ice jams may produce localized flooding.

South:
A trough of low pressure will produce showers and thundershowers from eastern Oklahoma and Texas into the lower Mississippi Valley.  A major warming trend can be expected across the South through Monday, as the high pressure moves east of the area and gusty south-to-southwesterly winds return.  By Sunday temperatures will be 5 to 10 degrees above average over the Southeast and Florida and 15 to 25 degrees above average over Texas and the southern Plains.

Northeast:
With high pressure in the South moving eastward there will be an increase in cloudiness and light rain/drizzle (possibly freezing) over the region tonight and through Monday.  The warming trend will continue with highs ranging from the upper 20s and 30s north to the low 50s in Virginia and by tomorrow afternoon temperatures will be 5 to 15 degrees above average. (NWS, Media Sources)

Preparations for West Coast Storms

California, Oregon, Washington and FEMA Regions IX and X are making preparations to respond to the West Coast storms discussed above.

Region IX:
RRCC Status:  Level III, 24/7 Operations, opened at 8:00 a.m. PST, January 4, 2008.
Current Situation:
CA Office of Emergency Services (OES) activated the State Operations Center (SOC) and Southern Regional Operations Center (SROC) at 7:00 a.m. PST, January 4, 2008 and will remain operational until 7:00 pm on January 5, 2008, when the situation will then be assessed.  CA OES continues to convene daily conference calls with OES Duty Officers, The National Weather Service and River Forecast Office for situational awareness and planning purposes.  OES will continue to convene daily conference calls with appropriate State agencies and the American Red Cross (ARC) to conduct situational briefings to ensure maximum coordination efforts.  OES Regions continue to monitor the weather situation closely, and are coordinating with the Operational Areas to determine any potential needs or requests for State assistance.

The American Red Cross currently has one shelter open with one person reporting and five shelters in standby.  The United States Coast Guard (USCG) San Francisco, in expectation of the coming weather conditions, have their assets on stand-by and are ready to respond.  USCG is also pre-positioning additional rescue aircraft in northern California. 

FEMA Region IX RRCC is activated to respond to any request from OES.  FEMA has a representative at the SOC during activation.  The Pasadena JFO Planning Section is at 24-hour operations through Sunday, January 6, 2008. 

FEMA Region X:
RRCC not activated. Duty Officer maintaining close liaison with the WA Emergency Ops Center (Region IX, Region X, Pasadena JFO)

Possible River Flooding

Region V: Periods of rain are forecast this weekend through next Tuesday, January 8, 2007.  The combination of rain and an expected warming trend, to begin over the weekend, may promote rises in iced-over rivers.  This could break loose ice, which could lead to "ice jam" river flooding by mid-week, January 9, 2007. A strong storm will move through the region Monday night into Tuesday, January 7-8, 2008, and indications are that the region will remain on the warmer side of this weather system, with mainly rain expected.  This rainfall, on top of the snow and frozen ground, could lead to water runoff problems.  With rivers currently frozen-over, some minor flooding or ice jamming is possible.(NWS, Region V)

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

No new activity to report.  (FEMA HQ)

Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

Public Assistance PDAs for 37 counties in Kansas due to severe winter storms occurring   December 6, 2007 are ongoing.

Public Assistance PDAs for eight counties in Nebraska due to severe winter storms occurring December 6, 2007 are ongoing. (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

On January 4, 2008, the President signed a Disaster Declaration, FEMA-1737-DR, for severe winter storms in Iowa 10-11 December 2007. 30 counties are eligible for Public Assistance, including Direct Federal Assistance.  All counties in the State of Iowa are eligible to apply for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.  Additional designations may be made at a later date after further evaluation.  The FCO will be Justo Hernandez. (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:38:40 EDT