NASA Shares View of Massive Winter Storm From Space

Thanks to the good folks at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, we have a satellite’s-eye view film of the atmospheric disturbances churning over the USA that formed Winter Storm Jonas over the past couple of days.

On Thursday, the agencies released a video of the low pressure system as it moves closer to the East Coast.

NASA, in conjunction with NOAA, has compiled satellite footage of the massive winter storm expected to hit the United States this weekend. Snowfall may approach two feet for some locations, including the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metro areas. GPM’s DPR observed rain falling at a rate of over 100 mm (3.9 inches) per hour in one line of storms moving over eastern Texas.

On Jan. 22, 2016 the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland said “A potentially crippling winter storm is anticipated for portions of the mid-Atlantic Friday into early Saturday”.

The animation was created by NASA/NOAA’s GOES Project at NASA’s Goddard in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The storm will likely cause travel delays, airport closures, and unsafe conditions. To the south, a quarter to half inch of ice accumulations across parts of the interior Carolinas outside the mountains – with lighter amounts expected in Kentucky and over the much of the central/eastern Carolinas. It’s one of 26 potential named winter storms for 2015-16 – provided by the Bozeman, Montana, High School Latin class – that the Weather Channel is using? Severe weather is also possible across eastern Gulf coasts and Florida.