National Situation Update: Friday, July 21, 2006
Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).
Tropical Storm Beryl Moving Northeastward – Losing Intensity
At 5:00 am EDT Friday, the center of Tropical Storm Beryl was located near latitude 41.7 north, longitude 69.7 west or about 35 miles northeast of Nantucket Massachusetts.
The Tropical Storm Warning is discontinued for the coast of Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard.
Beryl is moving toward the northeast near 21 mph and this motion is expected to continue with some increase in forward speed over the next 24 hours.
Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts. Beryl is expected to lose tropical characteristics during the next 24 hours.
Estimated minimum central pressure is 1001 millibars or 29.56 inches. (NOAA, National Hurricane Center)
Cold Front to Bring Cooler Temperatures to Southern U.S.
South: High heat (90s-100s) and humidity is forecast across the South on Friday, however a cold front will bring some much needed cooler weather during the weekend.
The cold front will move through the region on a line from Texas to Virginia. As the front moves southward, it will increase chances of thunderstorms. The rainfall will be welcome in the south, since most areas have been suffering drought conditions and intense hot weather.
The front will move slowly during the weekend with highs mainly in the 80s east of the Mississippi River and in the 90s in the southern Plains.
West: Portions of the Southwest (mainly Colorado and New Mexico) will see seasonal temperatures during the weekend, whereas other parts of the West will continue to deal with extreme heat conditions. The Pacific Northwest will see very hot temperatures on Friday with a high of 95 in Seattle and 104 in Portland Oregon. The northern tier including Montana will have temperatures near 100, while California and the Desert Southwest will have highs near 110 degrees.
Midwest: The extreme heat will end on Friday for large sections of the Midwest including the Dakotas and the central Plains.
High temperatures for the weekend will range from the 70s in Michigan and the Ohio Valley to the 90s in the Plains area.
As a cold front moves southward, thunderstorms are expected in the area from Nebraska and Kansas to Iowa and Missouri.
Northeast: Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to have minimal impacts on the Northeast on Friday as the storm moves toward Nova Scotia.
A cold front will move into the Northeast on Friday reducing temperatures into the 70s-80s for the weekend and creating conditions for occasional showers and thunderstorms. (NWS, Media Sources)
Missouri Tornadoes and Storm Damages
Strong storms producing heavy rains, straight-line winds (50-90 mph), hail and tornadoes moved through eastern Missouri on July 19-20, 2006, causing extensive power outages.
The City of St. Louis reported approximately 500,000 customers in the St. Louis area have no electrical service. The local area Missouri American water plant supporting the city is without power, and has issued a boil order advisory. The roof of a concourse of the Lambert St. Louis airport was blown off onto the nearby Interstate 70.
Media reports indicate the Governor has activated approximately 250 National Guard troops to evacuate people from their homes to air-conditioned buildings and to clear debris caused by this week's storms. Electric utilities indicate it may take 3-5 days to restore all power.
Approximately 30 injuries have been reported as a result of the storm. Three buildings have collapsed. Busch Stadium suffered damages, evacuated 10,000 people and sheltered 30,000. Approximately 10 cooling stations out of 40 are without power. Plans are to use 10 sixty-passenger buses as temporary cooling sites throughout the area.
Early reports indicate numerous buildings damaged throughout the area including windows blown out, trees down and roofs blown off.
Multiple cooling centers have been set up throughout the city.
Potosi, Missouri, population 2,600, has reported heavy damage from a tornado.
A fly-over was conducted on Thursday to assess damages. Both water plants in Potosi have been rendered out of service. City crews are working on repairing one plant today and supplying drinking water through local sources.
State officials are coordinating with the Missouri Army National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers regarding availability of power generators if needed.
FEMA Region VII has been in contact with the State Area Coordinator and will continue to maintain contact with the Missouri State Emergency Management office. The RRCC is activated at Level III and continues to coordinate potential response operations with SEMA. The USACE has been activated to respond to the RRCC for a power PRT with three people.(FEMA Region VII, Missouri State EOC)
Tropical Activity
Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean Sea: No significant systems except for Tropical Storm Beryl. There are no additional tropical developments expected in the next few days.
Eastern Pacific:Hurricane Daniel in the eastern Pacific has increased in strength (winds at 125 mph). Daniel is moving in a westerly direction and does not threaten any land. A low pressure system with some convection located 475 miles SSW of Acapulco could be the next tropical cyclone to develop.
Western Pacific: Typhoon Kaemi (06W) is expected to strengthen as it moves from Yap toward Taiwan. Based on the current forecast this system does not pose a threat to U.S. territories. (USDOC/NOAA/NWS, 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 Preparedness Level 4 (On a scale from 1 to 5)
Wildfire activity was heavy nationally with 314 new fires reported.
Seventeen new large fires were reported, five in the Eastern Great Basin Area, four each in the Northern Rockies and Rocky Mountain Areas, two in the Southern Area and one each in the Southwest and Western Great Basin Areas.
Eight large fires were contained, two each in the Rocky Mountain and Western Great Basin Areas, and one each in the Northern California, Southwest, Eastern Great Basin and Southern Areas.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
As of July 20 the following losses due to wildfires in the U.S. have been reported: 559 primary structures, 33 commercial structures, and 1,118 outbuildings. (National Interagency Fire Center)
Disaster Declaration Activity
No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Last Modified: Monday, 24-Jul-2006 08:37:45 EDT