Categories: Earth ObservationSatellites

Satellite Image of the ‘Snowtober’ Storm

The 'Snowtober' storm in the Northeastern US, as seen by the The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. Credit: NASA

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An unusual October storm dumped wet heavy snow across much of the Northeast US over the weekend, as much as 32 inches (81 centimeters) in some areas. Nicknamed “Snowtober,” the storm left as many as 3 million people without power at the snowstorm’s peak, and was blamed for the deaths of at least 10 people. In this images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, a swath of snow sweeps from West Virginia northeastward to Maine, as seen on Oct. 30, 2011. Clouds hover east and west of the snow, blocking the satellite sensor’s view of western Pennsylvania and parts of the Atlantic Ocean.

The storm broke snowfall-total records in many cities, with strong winds and heavy tree damage as the heavy snow easily clung to trees which still had their leaves, snapping branches and power lines.

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Source: NASA Earth Obseratory

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/