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National Situation Update: Friday, February 24, 2012

Significant National Weather:

West:
A Pacific storm will produce light to moderate rain along the Pacific Northwest coast and moderate to heavy snow at higher elevations.  The remainder of the region will be dry under high pressure.

Midwest:
Snow will fall across the Northern Plains and Northern Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes. Western portions of the Region will see gradual clearing during the day. Areas near the Great Lakes could receive 4 to 6 inches of snow by this evening.

South:
A low pressure system over the Ohio Valley will produce snow over the Great Lakes. Showers and thunderstorms will develop along and ahead of the cold front extending from the low to the Gulf Coast. Severe thunderstorms with gusty winds hail and isolated tornadoes are also possible.  Temperatures will be 10 to near 25 degrees above average from the Mid-Atlantic to the Southeast.

Northeast:
Numerous Watches and Warnings are in effect for the region; see www.nws.noaa.gov/largemap.php for the latest information. These conditions will produce rain and thunderstorms across the Mid-Atlantic with the possibility of severe thunderstorms.  The Mid-Atlantic will see gradual clearing tonight.  Inland areas from New York to New England could receive 4 to 6 inches of snow.  Coastal areas will have rain and sleet.  Tonight, westerly winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are forecast for New York City and Long Island; the strongest winds will be from midnight tonight into Saturday.

NOAA's National Water Center:

Construction began February 21, 2012 on NOAA’s National Water Center on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, which will strengthen the nation’s water forecast capabilities when completed in mid 2013.  The necessary expertise and capabilities to address increasingly complex, multi-disciplinary water resource issues reside in more than 20 federal agencies and academia.  The growing need and demand for better and timely water forecast information and services requires close partnerships among federal water agencies, because each brings a unique set of complementary tools and information to the table.  The National Water Center will be the first-ever U.S center for water forecast operations, research and collaboration across federal agencies and will facilitate the strong collaboration needed to best solve the nation’s water challenges and serve the American people. This new collaborative water program will enable the National Weather Service, in partnership with other federal agencies, to provide emergency managers and the public with detailed maps that explicitly show forecasted locations and effects of flooding for faster and more effective evacuations.  It will also support the development of new forecasts for water supply and availability, thereby helping communities becomes more resilient to floods.  The center will deliver a new generation of information and services to mitigate water-related disasters, inform routine decision-making about water, and address competing demands for increasingly limited water availability. For more information, www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2012/20120221_nwc.html.

Space Weather:

No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours and no space weather storms are predicted for the next 24 hours. 

Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

At 2:02 a.m. EST on February 24, 2012, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake occurred 24 miles southwest of Hilo, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii in the summit region of the Kilauea Volcano at a depth of 3.2 miles. There were no injuries or damages and no tsunami was generated.

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Last Modified: Friday, 24-Feb-2012 09:54:28 EST