Early February Blizzard Buries Northeastern U.S.

A remarkably powerful blizzard brought heavy snow and strong winds to the northeastern portion of the United States on February 9, 2013. A collision of cold air from Canada with moist air from the Gulf of Mexico brought snowfalls that extended from northern New Jersey through Maine. The storm system was a typical winter storm system pattern known as a “nor‘easter”, but the weather conditions were far from typical, with snowfall totals not seen since a record blizzard in 1978. Some of the heaviest snowfalls were recorded in southern Connecticut where totals over 30 inches (90 cm) were reported in several cities, including nearly one meter (38 inches) in Milford, according to the National Weather Service.

The Suomi NPP satellite observed the storm system at around 2:17 pm local time (17:17 UTC) on February 9 as the storm system was sweeping out to sea off Cape Cod, leaving a wake of snow on the ground behind it. The classical spiral pattern in the clouds was centered well off to shore, but storm clouds extended up the entire northeastern coast, while clearing skies over northern New Jersey and southern New York revealed a snow-covered landscape.

References

• Recent Snowfall and Snow Depth Maps. NOAA/National Weather Service maps. Accessed February 9, 2013.
• Rodgers, M. (Feb 9, 2013). Wicked Winter Wonderland for Northeast, especially New England, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post. Accessed February 9, 2013.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using VIIRS data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense. Data provided courtesy of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS). Caption by Jesse Allen

Instrument: 

Suomi NPP - VIIRS - NASA