Satellites in orbit have captured stunning views of the powerful Nor'easter that dropped snow on a wide swath of the U.S. Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday (Dec. 16-17). The huge snowfall that buried Central Park in at least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow.
The GOES-16 satellite (sometimes called GOES-East in reference to its geosynchronous orbital position over the United States) continues to closely track the storm and send down imagery, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The New York Times reports several people died in the storm, and that some cities have been struggling to deal with the snow removal cost while already under budgetary strain from the pandemic. New York City was under its heaviest snowfall in years, while other cities and towns in the region had their own tremendous snowfalls to deal with.
This #WednesdayMorning, the #GOESEast 🛰️ is using its #GeoColor product to track a #WinterStorm that will move across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through tomorrow. As it does, it will bring significant snow, strong winds, and coastal flooding to much of the region. pic.twitter.com/0N0ex6QEZcDecember 16, 2020
"It will bring significant snow, strong winds, and coastal flooding to much of the region," NOAA said of the storm on Twitter Wednesday (Dec. 16). Overnight, the satellite captured clouds and lightning stretching from the Appalachians to New England, all of which were under heavy storm warnings.
GOES-16 still saw strong snowfall in the region in images beamed down Thursday morning, NOAA added on Twitter. During the worst of the storm, the National Weather Service said heavy snowfall of more than two inches (5 cm) per hour, and accumulations in excess of 12 inches (30 cm), were expected in most affected areas – although two feet of snow (60 cm) could fall in the Poconos (central Pennsylvania) and Catskills (southern New York) by storm's end.
This #ThursdayMorning, the #GOESEast 🛰️ is using its #GeoColor product to watch a winter storm that brought heavy snow to parts of the eastern U.S. yesterday. Today, the storm is still dumping snow across much of the Northeastern U.S. pic.twitter.com/W1aksGBbk9December 17, 2020
The orbit of the International Space Station also regularly crosses the region, although NASA and the American astronauts on board the orbiting complex haven't commented on the storm yet on Twitter. At times, the astronauts do provide imagery of major storms to assist with disaster prediction and relief.
While the storm was a significant strain on infrastructure and local resources, other more minor difficulties came from students accustomed to snow days, the New York Times added. Elementary school and high school students in NYC and Philadelphia remote-learning due to the pandemic were told to carry on with their studies, even with the potential of epic snow forts to build outside.
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