Good morning.
Speaker AI'm Cedric and This is your EM Morning Brief for Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Speaker AA large, long duration winter storm organizes today and spreads from the Southern Plains into the Ohio Valley and Mid Atlantic this weekend.
Speaker AWinter storm watches are posted across parts of Texas, New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio and into the Northeast with NWS guidance highlighting the potential for heavy snow and damaging ice in some southern and central areas in the mid Atlantic.
Speaker ANWS Mount Holly's 5am briefing calls for major winter weather impacts and widespread travel disruption beginning Saturday night through Monday in the Texas Panhandle.
Speaker AForecasters are signaling 6 to 12 inches of snow along with dangerous wind chills.
Speaker AEl Paso and southern New Mexico remain under winter storm and extreme cold watches with accumulating snow mainly east of El Paso.
Speaker ASeismically, USGS reports a magnitude 4.3 earthquake this morning about 94 kilometers west of Ferndale, California.
Speaker ANo tsunami threat indicated.
Speaker ADHS check no new National Terrorism Advisory System update.
Speaker AThe current bulletin remains the June 22, 2025 NTAS bulletin.
Speaker ALet's run through the states.
Speaker ACalifornia Northern coastal waters feel a magnitude 4.3 quake this morning roughly 60 miles west of Ferndale.
Speaker AShaking is light with no tsunami messaging along the north coast should expect routine aftershocks but no special protective actions at this time.
Speaker ASeparately, NWS Bay Area notes a planned service outage today that temporarily affects NOAA.
Speaker AWeather Radio and the KMUX radar have multiple ways to receive warnings as the broader weekend system evolves.
Speaker ALouisiana USGS logs A minor magnitude 2.6 earthquake near Edgefield in northwestern Louisiana early today.
Speaker AQuakes of this size are typically felt locally but do not cause damage.
Speaker ANo protective actions are advised beyond standard awareness.
Speaker AGovernor Wes Moore declares a state of preparedness ahead of the weekend Winter storm authorizing Maryland Emergency Management to coordinate readiness actions for potential snow, ice, power outages and cold statewide from Saturday.
Speaker AWinter storm watches now cover much of central and southern Missouri with with NWS calling for 3 to 8 inches of snow in some areas and dangerous wind chills into the weekend.
Speaker ATravel hazards escalate Friday night through Sunday.
Speaker ANew Mexico A significant winter storm spreads across central and northern New Mexico Friday through Saturday night.
Speaker AHighest totals favor the central mountain chain.
Speaker AEastern NM may see deteriorating travel Friday night into Saturday with dangerous wind chills Friday night through Monday.
Speaker AOhio Winter storm watches expand across parts of northern and central Ohio for Saturday into Sunday night.
Speaker ANWS highlights accumulating snow and sub zero wind chills by late weekend.
Speaker ANWS Mount Holly briefings indicate high confidence in major winter storm impacts late Saturday through Monday across southeast Pennsylvania with widespread travel disruptions and periods of heavy snow possible mixed precipitation risks increase farther South Texas faces a high impact winter event from Friday through Sunday.
Speaker AThe Panhandle and South plains trend toward 6 to 12 inches of snow, with wind chills as low as 15 below.
Speaker AHill country and Central Texas carry ice risks and extreme cold watches.
Speaker AWest Texas and the El Paso area hold winter storm and extreme cold watches with accumulating snow mainly east of El Paso and very cold conditions region wide.
Speaker AAll other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
Speaker AWe'll continue to monitor the winter storm's evolution and any new official actions.
Speaker ASource links are in the show notes below.
Speaker AStay safe.