Satellites watch as bomb cyclone hits northeast U.S. with snow and lightning

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Hundreds of thousands have lost power and nearly 60 million are under severe weather warnings.

A satellite view of a large white spiral over land and sea representing the northeast U.S.
The storm imaged by the GOES East satellite on Feb. 23. (Image credit: CSU/CIRA & NOAA)

Since Sunday (Feb. 22) evening, an aggressive blizzard has been inundating the northeast U.S. with piles of snow and wind speeds rivaling those of a hurricane. For instance, according to CNN, Montauk Point in New York reported the fastest winds as of Monday (Feb. 23) at 84 miles (135 kilometers) per hour.

And as it all unfolds, satellites in space are capturing overhead views of the blizzard, which has officially been categorized as what's known as a "bomb cyclone." Both terms are technical, with the National Weather Service classifying a "blizzard" as a storm that leads to winds in excess of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) and visibility levels less than a quarter mile for at least 3 hours.

In the image above, the GOES East satellite — part of the GOES-R program developed by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — reveals the spinning storm just off the coast of the northeast U.S. on Monday morning.

Impacted areas, as noticeable in this satellite footage, include Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and more. Several states have declared states of emergency and some areas have issued travel bans for nonessential trips until it's safe for transportation to resume.

GOES East also captured lightning strikes within the cyclone; this could be an indication of what's known as "thundersnow." According to the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, this can happen in rare cases when there is "relatively strong instability and abundant moisture above the surface." Local news in Boston indeed reported thundersnow appearing above Scituate, Massachusetts early on Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, the blizzard is still in full swing with multiple feet of snow predicted to befall the hardest-hit locations. As of 7:00 a.m. ET on Monday, Central Park in New York City had about 15 inches (38 centimeters) of snow and Newark had 18.3 (46 cm) inches, per the NWS. Swansea, Massachusetts had snowfall reaching 26.5 (67 cm) inches on Monday, according to the weather service.

Wind speeds continue to top the charts, nearly 60 million residents in affected areas are under weather warnings and hundreds of thousands have lost power. Many experts are suggesting this storm could be a historic one; for instance, this is the first blizzard warning for New York City in nine years.

Monisha Ravisetti
Monisha Ravisetti
Astronomy Channel Editor

Monisha Ravisetti is Space.com's Astronomy Editor. She covers black holes, star explosions, gravitational waves, exoplanet discoveries and other enigmas hidden across the fabric of space and time. Previously, she was a science writer at CNET, and before that, reported for The Academic Times. Prior to becoming a writer, she was an immunology researcher at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. She graduated from New York University in 2018 with a B.A. in philosophy, physics and chemistry. She spends too much time playing online chess. Her favorite planet is Earth.

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