Gov. Nixon declares state of emergency in Missouri in response to severe winter storm

Gov. Jay Nixon today declared a state of emergency in Missouri in response to severe winter weather that began early this morning, bringing hazardous travel and the possibility of power outages. The weather system has involved a mix of snow, sleet and ice throughout the state, with forecasts of 10 inches or more of snow in some parts of the state and a wintry mix across many other regions of Missouri.

“A severe winter storm continues to bear down on communities across the state,” Gov. Nixon said. “Missouri stands ready to help communities in need and to deploy the resources to keep folks safe. I urge all Missourians to keep a close eye on the weather and avoid unnecessary travel.”

The State Emergency Operations Center has been actively monitoring the storm system since yesterday. Gov. Nixon has been receiving updates from his emergency management team, including senior officials from the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Missouri National Guard, Missouri State Highway Patrol and State Emergency Management Agency to assess the current weather situation and review the latest forecasts.

Gov. Nixon has also activated the Missouri State Emergency Operations Plan, which allows state agencies to coordinate directly with local jurisdictions to provide emergency services.

Citizens who need disaster information, shelter information, and referrals are urged to call 211. The 211 Service is now available for most areas of Missouri. In areas where the 211 service is not operational, citizens may call 800-427-4626. 

Gov. Nixon also encourages Missourians to take steps to protect themselves and their families, including:

• Listen to radio, television, or NOAA Weather Radio for weather reports and emergency information, or visit the state’s Web site – MO.gov – for comprehensive emergency information.
• If you must drive, check MO.gov for road conditions before departing. Dial the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s emergency line - *55 from a cellular phone – if you encounter an accident while driving.
• Check on the elderly and neighbors who may be in need of additional assistance. For information about emergency services and resources, visit MO.gov.

For more winter preparedness information, go to MO.gov.

Federal agencies exercise caution with Japanese food imports

U.S. agencies are playing it safe with food imports from areas near the Japanese nuclear reactors damaged in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

On March 22, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outlined efforts to protect Americans from tainted food.

“In truth, there are a very small percentage of products that could be affected that come into the United States from Japan,” said Ellen Schuster, a nutrition specialist with University of Missouri Extension. “The FDA says that it’s stopping the import of dairy products and produce from the parts of Japan where there is radiation from the damaged nuclear plants.”

Less than 4 percent of overall U.S. imports and less than 2 percent of our seafood come from Japan.

The FDA controls inspection of more than 80 percent of the food supply, from seafood to produce and dairy products.

For additional safety, the FDA is scanning any food products that come into the U.S. specifically from the four Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma. These areas surround the damaged nuclear plants; tests will determine whether products are free of radioactive contamination.

Schuster said it’s important that U.S. authorities take a careful approach and not feed into unfounded fears. That’s why screening is a better approach than banning all imports.

“Other products that come into the U.S. from Japan like seafood, snack foods, processed fruits and vegetables will be screened for radiation,” Schuster said. “The FDA will monitor foods coming in, will sample foods and actually have a list of food manufacturers from the affected region, so they know when food coming to our ports should receive special attention.”

The USDA said that the U.S. currently imports no beef or poultry from Japan and has not for more than a year. NOAA said it’s highly unlikely that seafood will be affected because the great amount of water in the Pacific Ocean will diffuse and reduce any radioactive contaminants to a very low concentration, but the FDA still plans to monitor it.

For more information:

-Questions about radiation and food (FDA): http://1.usa.gov/ejDkfs.

-Information on radiation safety (USDA): http://1.usa.gov/hMf2Je.

A Calmer Tornado Alley

Tornado Alley, the swath of prairie from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri famous for twisters, may see a largely calm tornado season this year.

The same dominant atmospheric phenomenon that spawned winter blizzards through much of the country generally shifts spring and summer thunderstorm activity northward, says Tony Lupo, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

That dominant climate factor is a strong La Niña. La Niña occurs when cooler-than-normal water temperatures develop in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

The impact of La Niña is most clearly seen in wintertime, Lupo said. It tends to bring cold weather extremes to parts of the nation. La Niña’s opposite, El Niño, is associated with warmer water temperatures. In the continental U.S. during El Niño years, temperatures in the winter are generally warmer over the North, Midwest and East.

Both climate phenomena, which typically trade places every three to six years, influence weather patterns throughout the world.

Lupo says that La Niña tends to shift the jet stream patterns northward over the U.S. In a La Niña season, the jet streams pick up warm Pacific moisture and direct their cargoes of warm and unstable air to Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. Storm systems tend to follow these streams.

“There has to be heat and moisture to build severe thunderstorms,” Lupo says. “An atmosphere that is too cold or dry will not produce dynamic cloud systems like supercell storms. When the jet stream is farther north, as it is in a La Niña event, you have a better chance of achieving these kinds of temperatures and dew points in these parts of the country.”

In a typical El Niño or neutral year, the jet stream travels farther south through Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas – Tornado Alley.

“There is no statistical data that storm intensity or duration differs between La Niña and El Niño years nationwide,” Lupo says. “However, our data from the 1950s and 1960s relied on human observation, which can be spotty and inaccurate. We only have a few years of reliable national Doppler radar and satellite imagery.”

Tornado Alley may see an unusually calm year for another reason, Lupo said. Atmospheric models predict a dryer-than-normal spring and summer, taking away the fuel for supercell development.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration charts La Niña patterns through monitoring buoys in the Pacific Ocean. NOAA observed a strengthening La Niña in August 2010 and predicts that it will continue through 2011.

Lupo is a member of the Global Climate Change Group, a group that researches planetary-scale atmospheric processes, specifically a phenomenon called atmospheric blocking. Here, stalled large-scale anticyclones impact not only the regions in which they occur, but also regions upstream and downstream of the event.