Skip to content

National Situation Update: Monday, October 20, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

West:
A cold front moving eastward through the region will bring rain and snow to parts of the Northwest.  The Southwest should remain warm and dry.  Fire Weather Watches are in effect for portions of central and southern California due to gusty northeast winds and very low relative humidity.  A weak to moderate Santa Ana wind event is expected to develop across this area Tuesday night and continue through Thursday.
Midwest:
A cold front passing through the region will bring light rain and snow to the Great Lakes area.  The rest of the region is forecast to be dry and cool.
Flood Warnings and Watches are in effect for rivers in Minnesota, Kansas and North Dakota.
South:
High pressure will keep most of the South sunny with the exception of a few scattered showers along the southern Florida coast.  Numerous Freeze Warnings and Frost Advisories are in effect throughout the region.  Flood Warning in effect for the St. Johns River near Astor in Florida.
Northeast:
Mostly sunny weather is forecast for most of the region with typical cool October temperatures.
Numerous Freeze Warnings and Frost Advisories are in effect throughout the region. (NOAA; National Weather Service; Various Media Sources)

Federal / State Response for Hurricane Omar:

FEMA Region II:

  • Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) is activated at Level III, with ESFs 3 and 7. DoD is on standby; DCE has demobilized.
  • ERT-As deployed to Puerto Rico (PR) and U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).

U.S. Virgin Islands (VITEMA):

  • The Virgin Islands Territory Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) EOC is activated.
  • Electric power restored to 90% of St. Croix.
  • IA PDAs will begin in St Croix, St Johns, and St Thomas today; PA PDAs are complete in St Croix, St Johns and St Thomas. 
  • No limiting factors or shortfall of resources reported by VITEMA. (FEMA Region II)

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

No new activity to report (FEMA HQ)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean:
91L
A broad area of low pressure is located over the northwestern  Caribbean Sea about 100 miles east of the coast of Belize.  Although the associated shower and thunderstorm activity is currently disorganized, some slow development of this system is possible before it moves inland over Belize or the Yucatan Peninsula in a day or two.

Eastern Pacific:
Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours.

Western Pacific:
No current tropical cyclone warnings. (NOAA, HPC, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

National Fire Activity as of Sunday, October 19, 2008:
National Wildfire Preparedness Level: 1
Initial attack activity: Light (41 new fires)
New large fires: 0
Uncontained large fires: 1
Large fires contained: 0
States with large fires: CA
Fire Weather: Warm and dry conditions will continue in southern California and the southern Great Basin today. Southwest winds will begin to increase across the southern Sierras and the southern Great Basin by afternoon. Relative humidity will improve significantly across the Southeast as scattered showers move across the region.(NIFC)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:32:09 EDT