Archive - Snowstorm Buries Northeastern US

January 31, 2016

Northeast_tmo2003051

Each Sunday we present a notable item from our archives. This EPOD was originally published February 25, 2003

Provided by: Earth Observatory, NASA GSFC
Summary authors & editors: Earth Observatory; Jim Foster

This true color, visible satellite image of the northeastern US was acquired on February 20, 3-days after record snowfalls blanketed the Middle Atlantic and New England states. It was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite - the resolution is 1 km. Final storm totals indicate parts of Western Maryland received up to 4 feet (1.23 m) of snow. It was perhaps the biggest snowstorm in over 100 years in Boston and Baltimore, where snow totals were near 28 inches in both cities (70 cm)! Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, were also inundated with snow, though, no all-time records were set. While the northeast was walloped by this President's Day snowstorm, eastern Michigan and northeastern Indiana escaped the brunt of the storm and are relatively snow free (brown tones). Note that only the shallowest of the 5 Great Lakes, Lake Erie, has a nearly complete covering of ice.

Related Links: