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National Situation Update: Sunday, December 20, 2009

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

Northeast
Today, the snowstorm will most likely remain only in southeast New York and New England and will lessen as it moves west to east through this afternoon. Eastern Long Island, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket may see blizzard conditions with some accumulations in southeast Massachusetts possibly reaching over one foot. Areas as far north as coastal Maine will only see light snow. Monday through Wednesday will see a break in the snow with snow showers only across the interior of the region from West Virginia and western Pennsylvania to Maine, with the possibility of continued gusty winds for New England.
The next big storm should arrive later on Thursday into Christmas Day; this storm will bring rain and a wintry mix of snow across the region.

South
Today through Monday, the South will be dry except for lingering snow showers in the southern Appalachians. By Tuesday the showers will move northward over eastern Texas, eastern Oklahoma, western Louisiana and Arkansas. Wednesday through Christmas Day, a new storm will move in from Oklahoma and eastern Texas to the Southeast coast; western North Carolina will see freezing rain.

Midwest
A new storm will enter the Upper Midwest today and then will move into the Great Lakes and eastern Ohio Valley on Monday; this new storm will bring, at most, only a few inches of snow accumulation.
Monday and Tuesday the Dakotas will see snow showers in advance of a western storm. On Tuesday, some wet snow or rain will move northward from the south-central states into the lower Missouri Valley. Wednesday through Saturday, a storm will move slowly from the southern Plains’ Red River Valley to the Great Lakes; this storm could bring a fair amount of snow from Kansas and Nebraska to Michigan.

West
On Monday, a new Pacific storm will bring rain and snow to the interior region of the Northwest again. On Tuesday, the storm will move eastward through the west, bringing snow to the Great Basin, Rockies and northern high Plains; by midweek the storm will re-form over the central U.S. (NOAA’s National Weather Service, Various Media Sources) 

Winter Snowstorm

FEMA Regional Coordination
Region I
State Actions:
Rhode Island

  • Actiated to Level II (Partial Activation) at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, December 19, in preparation for storm arrival in the central Atlantic.
    Massachusetts
  • Activated to Level III with partial staffing and continues to monitor.

Region II
State Actions:
New York

  • State EOC at Limited Activation with limited staffing
    New York City
  • Activated to Level II with increased staff in Situation Room
    New Jersey
  • Activated to Level III with increased staff

Region III
State Actions:
District of Columbia

  • Mayor Fenty Declared a snow emergency effective 7:00 a.m. EST, December 19.
  • DCHSEMA activated ESFs 4, 9, 10 (Urban Search & Rescue) and ESF 13 (Law Enforcement)

Delaware

  • Activated at 6:00 a.m. EST, December 19 with Emergency Support Coordinators activated.

Maryland

  • Governor declared a State of Emergency for the entire state on December 19.
  • Activated to Level III at 9:00 a.m. EST, December 19.
  • 19 County EOCs activated; many stood down for the evening and will re-activate today

Pennsylvania

  • Activated to Level II at midnight December 18, 2009, with additional staff; may go down to Level III by noon today depending on situation
  • The City of Philadelphia activated their snow emergency plan effective 9:00 a.m. EST, December 19.

Virginia

  • Activated to Response Operations Level with most ESFs
  • Governor declared a State of Emergency related to the impending winter storm

Region IV
State Actions:
North Carolina

  • Activated to Level IV – Partial Activation.

Tennessee

  • Activated to Level IV (Localized Emergency – Active Missions and Monitoring

Alabama

  • Activated to Level III (Partial Activation)
  • The Governor declared a State of Emergency on December 16, 2009 for four counties related to significant rainfall and flooding.

Mississippi

  • Returned to Level IV – Normal Operations

Florida

  • Activated to Level III (Monitoring)

Kentucky

  • Activated to Level III (Partial Activation) with Emergency Management and National Guard

Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Tuesday, 22-Dec-2009 08:53:43 EST