For two years in a row the northeastern United States has experienced brutal winter storms, the most recent of which left the entire region blanketed in snow. Amazing satellite imagery released by NASA today shows the latest Nor’easter as it moved up the coast yesterday.
In less than three weeks two major winter storm systems have wreaked havoc across the South and then moved to the northeast continuing their wintry work. From the Deep South to New England the effects of these storms have been felt far and wide.
Two days after Christmas the first of these storms buried Atlantic City, Boston and New York City. The storm impacted all forms of travel in the region and even forced the postponement of an NFL football game.
Yesterday storm had a greater effect on Monday when it struck the South. However for snow-weary residents of the Northeast it was still significant when coupled with previous storms.
NASA’s Terra satellite captured amazing and beautiful imagery of the storm as its center passed over Cape Cod, Massachusetts at around 10:00am EST. The storm has a distinct hurricane-like appearance indicative of the air rotating around the low pressure system.
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A classic Nor’easter plowed up the East Coast of the United States on January 12, 2011, dumping heavy snow on New England states for the third time in three weeks. The storm began developing late on January 11, as a snow-making system that had hit the southern U.S. rode up the Atlantic seaboard and merged with another system crossing from the Midwest. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite took this photo-like image at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 12, when the storm was centered over southern New England.
The storm had a distinctive comma shape—reminiscent of a hurricane—that forms when air circles around a low-pressure center (centered over Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the image). Higher, thinner clouds swept around the south side of the storm, circling counterclockwise around the center. These lines of clouds formed when frigid winds blowing off the land chilled the moist ocean air.
The air circling the storm center from the north came in off of the ocean, where it picked up moist air. The dense clouds on the north and west side of the storm carried intense snow. The places where these clouds dominate the image—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, eastern New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island—were hit hard with snow falling as fast as 3 inches an hour, according to the National Weather Service. More than 24 inches (61 centimeters) of snow had fallen in parts of New England by the evening of January 12.
The powerful snow storm brought gale-force winds (over 39 miles per hour, or 63 kilometers per hour) to many coastal areas and claps of thunder in others. Blizzard conditions—snowstorms with visibility less than one-quarter mile and winds at gale force for more than three hours—developed in parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The strong winds combined with heavy snow left more than 100,000 people without electric power, and led to the shutdown of parts of Interstate 95 and northeastern railroad service. Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, set a one-day record with 22.5 inches (57 centimeters) of snow.
- References
- Associated Press. (2011, January 12). Winter storm buries southern New England. Accessed January 12, 2011.
- National Weather Service. (2011, January 12). Public information statement. Accessed January 12, 2011.
- National Weather Service. (2011, January 12). Storm total snow forecast. Accessed January 12, 2011.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek and Mike Carlowicz, with information from NASA atmospheric scientist Scott Braun.
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