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National Situation Update: Sunday, February 19, 2006

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

West: Yesterday, Washington and Oregon set almost 30 new daily record low temperatures including 19F in Seattle. The northern Rockies were also unusually cold; Casper WY set a record low of minus 31F and Denver CO recorded minus 13F, 10 degrees lower than the previous record for that date. The low pressure offshore California will continue to produce heavy snow from the Sierras to the mountains of Southern California. Total snowfall by tonight should be measured in feet in the Sierras, and could total up to a foot in the Tehachapi, San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains where snow levels will be between 3000 and 3500 feet.

Midwest: Around a dozen daily record lows were tied or broken yesterday morning from Wisconsin to the Nebraska Panhandle. The coldest temperature of minus 36F was recorded in Alliance, NE. Chicago's O'Hare Airport at minus 7F was their coldest reading in over 2 years, and only the second subzero low of the season. The cold air mass remains in place today. Lows will bottom out in the single digits for much of the Ohio Valley, Missouri and Kansas. Subzero cold will once again chill the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. The only significant precipitation over the region will be lake effect snow from the arctic air moving over the relatively ice-free Lakes Superior and Michigan. This should affect Upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula and the western parts of Lower Michigan.

South: Light rain or drizzle is forecast in a wide swath from San Antonio to New Orleans. Further north in the cold air a wintry mix of snow, sleet or and freezing drizzle is forecast for the Red River Valley and later into the Tennessee Valley.

Northeast: High pressure will build eastward into the Mid-Atlantic today bringing generally dry but cold weather. High temperatures will range from the teens in northern New England to the low 30s in northern Virginia. Cold winds blowing over unfrozen Lakes Erie and Ontario will produce lake-effect snow in northwest Pennsylvania and southwest New York, with significant accumulations in upstate New York around the Tug Hill Plateau.

Power Outages Continue in Northeast

More than a quarter-million customers in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan reportedly still lacked power Saturday following a winter storm that struck Friday with high winds and freezing temperatures.  Authorities opened emergency shelters in some locales, and power crews continue to work through the weekend to restore power in the affected areas.  (News media sources)

Volcano Activity

Alaska's Augustine volcano remains at the Current Level of Concern Color Code: ORANGE (volcano is in eruption or eruption may occur at any time) (United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program, Alaska Volcano Observatory)

Tropical Activity

There are no active tropical disturbances in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. (USDOC/NOAA/NWS, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

No significant activity in the United States or its territories during the last 24 hours.

In the Pacific a 6.2 earthquake occurred in the ocean 65 miles south of Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea on Saturday at 10:59 am (EST).  No tsunami was generated. (Source: United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards Program, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)