A strong winter storm system swept across the United States from January 15 – 18, 2020, ending with snow and ice in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. In Maine, snow totals reached 5.4 inches in Portland and 9 inches near Kokadjo. New Hampshire registered 9 inches in Berlin and 6 inches in Portsmouth while nearby Vermont claimed 12 inches of new snow in Eden.

On January 20, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of snow covering the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States.

A dark line has been laid across the image, illustrating the political boundary between the United States (south) and Canada (north) and light lines separate state boundaries within the United States. Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia remain essentially snow-free, but a line of snow begins in northeastern West Virginia and near the southern border of Pennsylvania, with most of the ground north of this line covered in bright white snow.

Snow storms are common in both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions during the months of winter, sometimes also occurring in late fall and early spring. With the large population in this part of the country, accurate forecasting of the arrival of wicked winter weather well ahead of time plays an important role in safe travel, work, and school schedules. But such storms are notoriously difficult, as just a slight change in conditions can turn a moderate rain event into several inches of snow, or even radically dangerous icing. Or two feet of snow may fall in one area, with the neighboring county only seeing one inch.

To better understand the inner workings of snowstorms, this month NASA is sending a team of scientists, a host of ground instruments, and two research scientists to investigate. The Investigation of Microphysics Precipitation for Atlantic-Coast Threatening Snowstorms, or IMPACTS, has its first deployment in a multi-year field campaign from January 17 through March 1. It will be the first comprehensive study of East Coast snowstorms in 30 years. The major goal of the campaign will aimed at figuring out what happens in snowstorms that create such variations, and how to better represent that in weather models.

Image Facts

Satellite: Aqua

Date Acquired: 1/20/2020

Resolutions: , ,

Bands Used: 1,4,3

Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC