Behemoth Snowstorm Watched by Satellites As It Hits US Northeast

A powerful nor'easter is expected to dump more than a foot of snow in some regions of the U.S. Northeast today (March 7), and satellites are tracking the snowstorm from space.

The GOES-16 satellite has captured a stunning view of the storm, as well as the rest of the Earth, as part of the spacecraft's nonstop weather tracking from orbit. The satellite, which is also known as GOES-East and is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), captured a video of the storm this morning in different wavelengths. [Amazing Earth Photos by GOES-16 ]

This close-up view from a full Earth image by GOES-16 weather satellite shows the powerful nor'easter bringing snow to the northeastern U.S. on March 7, 2018 at 10:26 a.m. EST (1526 GMT). (Image credit: NOAA)

"It's a snowy sunrise this morning as #GOESEast captures the water vapor covering the Northeastern United States," NOAA officials wrote in a Twitter update showing the video. "This geocolor imagery combines multiple spectral bands on the satellite to capture the view as the human eye would see it from space."

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The National Weather Service has issued several winter-storm warnings and winter-weather advisories for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions for today's nor'easter. According to The New York Times, up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow could fall in New York's Orange, Putnam and Rockland counties, as well as Allentown, Pennsylvania, and parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts. New York City could see up to 11 inches (28 cm) of snow, and northern New Jersey's Sussex County could see 19 inches (48 cm), according to a National Weather Service forecast.

A full-disk view of the Earth on March 7, 2018 as seen by the GOES-16 weather satellite at 10:26 a.m. EST (1526 GMT). (Image credit: NOAA)

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.