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Impacts for this event include:

Power Systems:  Weak power fluctuations can occur

Spacecraft Operations:  Minor impact on satellite operations

Other Systems:  Migratory animals are affected

Aurora will be commonly visible at higher latitudes.  Tips on viewing the Aurora are located here.  Share your pictures of the Aurora on the Space Weather Prediction Center’s Facebook.

For additional information monitor the Space Weather Prediction Center.

Effective January, 3 2012, all new flood stages will take effect unless flooding is expected or ongoing.

At Old Portage, the flood stage will be raised from 9 feet to 10.5 feet. At this gage height, the rise in water surface level begins to impact property at the Akron Water Pollution Control Division Plant. At 13.0 feet impacts begin to increase in severity at the treatment plant; at the same time a few low lying businesses become inundated. This stage signifies the increase in severity from minor to moderate flooding. Major flooding denotes the stage at which extensive flooding occurs typically resulting in evacuations and or significant property loss. Given the steep banks of the Cuyahoga River near Old Portage, it would take a stage of around 18.0 feet before this type of non-localized damage would occur from the river.

On the Scioto River in Marion County both official forecast points of La Rue and Prospect have undergone changes in the watershed, necessitating changes in the flood stages. At La Rue, a bridge was added upstream of town and the river gage was moved to a new location. At Prospect the addition of a new bridge downtown resulted in a wider stream channel, allowing more water to flow through the town. As a result of these changes the new flood stages for La Rue are 13.0 feet for moderate, and 14.0 feet for major. For Prospect the new moderate flood stage is 13.5 feet and major flood stage is 15.0 feet. Minor flood stages will remain the same.

At the Blanchard River in Findlay the minor and moderate flood stages will remain the same. At the current major flood stage of 13.0 feet there is no significant increase in impacts or severity from moderate flood stage, though the flood waters are becoming more widespread. By 13.5 feet conditions become more critical as the Martin Luther King Parkway overpass becomes cut off by flood waters. At this point major thru ways in the town are cut off and homes and businesses become threatened by flood waters. Therefore the major flood stage at Findlay will be raised from 13.0 feet to 13.5 feet.

The river stage forecasts help us meet the National Weather Service mission of protecting life and property for the citizens in northern Ohio. The Cleveland forecast office and supporting Ohio River Forecast Center in Wilmington Ohio provides all river flood warning services for above mentioned sites.

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends Wednesday, having produced a total of 19 tropical storms of which seven became hurricanes, including three major hurricanes. This level of activity matched NOAA’s predictions and continues the trend of active hurricane seasons that began in 1995.

The 19 tropical storms represent the third-highest total (tied with 1887, 1995, and 2010) since records began in 1851 and is well above the average of 11. However, the number of hurricanes and major hurricanes is only slightly above the average of six and two, respectively. This year’s totals include a post-storm upgrade of Tropical Storm Nate to hurricane status, and the addition of a short-lived, unnamed tropical storm that formed in early September between Bermuda and Nova Scotia. This unnamed storm, along with several other weak, short-lived named storms, could have gone undetected without modern satellite technology.

Irene was the lone hurricane to hit the United States in 2011, and the first one to do so since Ike struck southeast Texas in 2008. Irene was also the most significant tropical cyclone to strike the Northeast since Hurricane Bob in 1991.

“Irene broke the ‘hurricane amnesia’ that can develop when so much time lapses between landfalling storms,” said Jack Hayes, Ph.D., director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “This season is a reminder that storms can hit any part of our coast and that all regions need to be prepared each and every season.”

As far as landfalling major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5 with top winds of 111mph and greater) are concerned, the lull continues. 2011 marks a record six straight years without one hitting the United States. The last one to do so was Wilma in 2005. Nonetheless, wind is not the only threat with tropical systems as proven by Irene and Lee, which caused deadly and destructive flooding. On average, more than half of the fatalities related to tropical systems are due to flooding.

Hurricane Irene is an example of increasing accuracy in forecasting storm track. Its landfall in eastern North Carolina and path northward were accurately predicted more than four days in advance by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center using information from weather satellites, hurricane models, aircraft observations, and other data. NOAA’s delivery of critical environmental forecasts provided essential advance information that allowed emergency officials to plan necessary evacuations and sparked individuals to take safety precautions. But a weaker-than-anticipated Irene at landfall also highlighted the challenges that remain in forecasting storm intensity.

“Improving intensity forecasts is a focus of ongoing research and is part of NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project,” said Frank Marks, Ph.D., director of NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division. HFIP bridges research and operational components to better anticipate rapid changes in storm intensity and its goal to extend track forecasts from the current five days to seven days.

“Although the 2011 hurricane season has ended, our need to prepare for disasters hasn’t,” said Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “Being prepared for all kinds of hazards, from hurricanes to blizzards to tornadoes, is a year-round activity. We encourage all members of the team, especially the public, to continue to prepare for emergencies by staying informed of forecasted weather events, making an emergency plan, and building your emergency preparedness kit. Visit Ready.gov to learn more.”

NOAA will issue its initial outlook for the 2012 hurricane season in May just prior to the official start of the season on June 1.