Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)
Significant National Weather
Northeast
High pressure will dominate the region today, with fronts staying very far to the north and west. High temperatures are forecast to be 5 to 15 degrees above average, with highs in the 90s from New York to New England. The dry, hot weather will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Midwest
Scattered thunderstorms are possible today in the mid-Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys. Severe thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall (1-2-inches), will develop across the Dakotas, Nebraska and western Minnesota. The severe threats include damaging wind gusts, hail and a few tornadoes.
West
With a cold front aligned from the Wyoming-Nebraska border to Southern California, much of the West will be cool today with temperatures 5 to 20 degrees below average with the exception of eastern Colorado. Eastbound upper-level disturbances over the Northwest will continue to generate showers and scattered thunderstorms across Washington, Oregon, northern California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and northern Utah. A few thunderstorms are also possible across easternmost Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Gusty winds will linger over Wyoming and parts of the Four Corners states.
South
While the same high pressure system impacting the Northeast will keep most of the Southeast rain-free today, thunderstorms are possible over South Florida and along the northern Gulf Coast. A disturbance moving northward through the lower Mississippi Valley will trigger additional scattered showers and thunderstorms across Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and western Tennessee. Temperatures will vary from slightly below average in Mississippi to as much as 10 degrees above average in North Carolina. (NOAA and media sources)
Wildfire Activity
National Preparedness Level: 2
National Fire Activity as of Sunday, August 29, 2010:
Initial attack activity: light (125 new fires), new large fires: 4, large fires contained: 7
Uncontained large fires: 27, U.S. States affected: ID, OR, WA, MT, CA, HI, WY, NE, TN & OK (NIFC)
Washington State
The Slide Creek Fire is located in Stevens County, six miles south of Colville, WA. The fire has burned 989 acres and is 60 percent contained. Three residences are destroyed and 25-50 structures remain threatened. There are no reported injuries or fatalities but advisory evacuations are in effect. A Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved on Aug 27.
The Highway 8 Complex Fire is located in Klickitat County just north of Lyle, WA. The fire has burned 2,040 acres and is 40 percent contained. There are no reported injuries or fatalities. (HQ FEMA)
Idaho
The Hurd Fire is located northwest of Cascade, Idaho and has burned 1,331 acres. It is 70% contained and there are no reported injuries or fatalities. FMAG-2853 was approved on Aug 26.
Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)
No activity. (FEMA HQ)
Tropical Weather Outlook
Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico:
Hurricane Earl is a Category Two storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph with higher gusts. It is located about 170 miles east of St. Thomas and 236 miles east of San Juan, Puerto Rico moving west-northwest near 14 mph and is expected to turn northwest on Tuesday. Earl is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane, which is a Category Three or higher, by tonight or early Tuesday.
A Hurricane Warning is now in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands. A Hurricane Watch and a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Puerto Rico including the islands of Culebra and Vieques. Earl will pass near or over the northernmost Leeward Islands this morning and near the Virgin Islands this afternoon and evening. This storm is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of four to eight inches with isolated amounts close to 12 inches. These rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
At FEMA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) Activation Team members and Emergency Support Function representatives are on alert and watching the activity in the Atlantic. FEMA Logistics has communications equipment and vehicles in place at the Puerto Rico Caribbean Area Division and in the Virgin Islands.
In FEMA Region II (New York, New Jersey and the Caribbean Area Division), the Regional Response Coordination Center is activated to 24/7 operations. Emergency Support Function representatives and the Defense Control Element are also activated. IMAT Team-A is deployed to the U.S. Virgin Islands and IMAT Team-C is deployed to Puerto Rico.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, Hurricane Danielle is still a weak Category One hurricane located 440 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland moving northeast near 17 mph. Current maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph, with higher gusts. As it continues to move over the cold waters of the Atlantic, it will transition into a large extratropical cyclone.
Another low pressure system located about 1050 miles east of the Lesser Antilles is gradually becoming better organized. There is a 90 percent chance of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.
Eastern Pacific
A broad area of disturbed weather situated several hundred miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico remains poorly organized. There is a low chance, 20 percent, of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.
Central and Western Pacific:No tropical cyclone activity expected during the next 48 hours. (NOAA, JTWC)
Earthquake Activity
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Preliminary Damage Assessments
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Disaster Declaration Activity
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Fema
