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National Situation Update: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

Northeast
The winter storm that affected much of the mid-Atlantic and New England on Tuesday will slowly pull away into Canada during the day on Wednesday; however, wintry conditions will continue across portions of the Northeast.

Cold and windy conditions with lingering snow showers will continue across northern New York and New England with lake effect snow developing east of Lakes Erie and Ontario. The rest of the region will be mainly dry but windy.

High temperatures are forecast will range from the 30s over much of the region away from the East Coast to around 50 in Virginia.

South
Cold air, and relatively light winds will result in freezing temperatures over much of the South. Freeze warnings remain in effect through early Wednesday for all of north and central Georgia, southeast Alabama, southwest and south central Georgia and the Florida Big Bend and panhandle.

While coastal Florida temperatures will likely remain above freezing, widespread areas of frost will likely occur tonight Early morning freezing temperatures will be felt across much of southeast Texas and across all of central Louisiana.

Wednesday highs will remain well below average but slightly higher than we saw on Tuesday.

Wednesday highs across the South will range from the upper 40s in the southern Appalachians to the 70s in southern Florida to near 80 over extreme southern Texas.


Midwest
Cold high pressure will sink south over the lower Ohio Valley early Wednesday bringing unseasonably chilly air coupled with light winds allowing temperatures to drop below freezing by dawn Wednesday across nearly all of the Midwest.

Some lake-effect snow is forecast for parts of northeast Ohio into Wednesday.

Temperatures will begin to moderate on Wednesday across the plains. Milder temperatures will then spread eastward to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley areas by Thursday. Highs on Wednesday will range from around 40 on Michigan's Upper Peninsula to the low to mid-70s on the western High Plains.

West
Most of the west will experience dry and warm weather conditions on Wednesday except for Western Washington that will experience a few showers.

High temperatures will remain quite warm with highs ranging from the 40s over the Washington Cascades to the mid-90s in southwest Arizona and southeast California. The increased fire threat will continue into Wednesday as relative humidity levels remain low. (NOAA; National Weather Service; Various Media Sources)

Early Winter Storm in Northeast

Heavy snowfall and strong winds occurred Tuesday across a large portion of the Northeast from Pennsylvania through central and northern New York into New England. Snow accumulations of 12-inches were reported with heavy wet snow continuing, resulting in many downed trees and power lines. 
National Weather Service reports additional snowfall Tuesday evening of 2 to 4 inches in valley locations and 3 to 7 inches at higher elevations. A State of Emergency was declared for the town of Bovina, New York due to power outages and numerous road closures.
 
Utility companies in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York reported numerous power outages associated with the storm. There were unconfirmed reports of as many as 95,000 customers in northeastern and north-central Pennsylvania without power on Tuesday. Electricity was restored to most customers on Tuesday; however, due to the extent of the damage, Penelec stated that some customers in northeast Pennsylvania may not have power restored before Wednesday evening.
Northwestern New Jersey reported sporadic power outages with approximately 60,000 customers were affected. Most customers should have had their power restored by late Tuesday night.

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

No new activity to report.  (FEMA HQ)

Pakistan 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurred at 4:09 am EDT, Wednesday, October 29, 2008 approximately 35 miles north northeast of Quetta, Pakistan and 400 miles west southwest of Islamabad, Pakistan. The earthquake took place in a seismically active region of Pakistan at a depth of 9.3 miles.

The Associated Press reports that the quake struck villages in southwestern Pakistan before dawn Wednesday, killing at least 135 people, injuring about 120 more and destroying hundreds of homes.

The death toll was expected to rise as reports arrived from remote areas on the Pakistan Afghanistan border.

The worst hit area appeared to be Ziarat, where hundreds of mostly mud and timber houses were destroyed in five villages.

The Associated Press reported that the Pakistan army was sending medical teams on helicopters to the affected villages.

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean:
Area 1 (92L):  A broad area of low pressure located about midway between the Cape Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles is drifting west-northwestward.  The associated shower activity remains disorganized, and upper-level winds are becoming less conducive. Therefore, any development of this system should be slow to occur over the next couple of days.

Eastern Pacific:
Area 1: Shower activity associated with a weak area of low pressure located about 800 miles south of the southern tip of Baja California remains disorganized.  Development of this system, if any, is expected to be slow to occur as it moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph over the next couple of days.

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

Earthquake Activity

A 4.8 magnitude occurred in northern Alaska, 305 miles WNW of Fairbanks, on Tuesday, October 28, at 10:30 a.m. EDT.  Depth was .5 miles. Additional tremblers in the same region were recorded since then, with magnitudes 3.2 to 4.2.  No damage or injuries reported. (FEMA HQ, USGS, National Weather Service West Coast /Alaska Tsunami Warning Center)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

National Fire Activity as of Tuesday, October 28, 2008:
National Wildfire Preparedness Level: 1
Initial attack activity: Light (173 new fires)
New large fires: 2
Uncontained large fires: 2 (OK, CA)
Large fires contained: 1
 
Fire weather:  Southern California will see one more day of warm and dry conditions before a cooling trend with increased relative humidity begins. The Southeast will see continued low relative humidity, however winds will decrease.

Red Flag Warning will be in effect for much of Wednesday for parts of the eastern panhandle, northeast, west central and southwest Florida due to low humidity and gusty winds.

Red Flag warning will be in effect for portions of southern and extreme SW California through Wednesday evening due to an extended period of low humidity. (NIFC)

Disaster Declaration Activity

FEMA-1801-DR-North Carolina; Amendment #1.  Effective October 28, 2008, this disaster declaration is amended to include New Hanover County for Public Assistance. (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 16:31:57 EDT