Low pressure system over the eastern United States

This visible image of the Great Lakes low pressure area was taken from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite. It was taken at 19:05 UTC (3:05 p.m. EDT) on Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team Two Instruments on NASA's Aqua Satellite Catch the Pesky Great Lakes Low A low pressure area has been sitting over the Great Lakes region for about a week now, keeping the region and the U.S. northeast and Mid-Atlantic under cloud cover. NASA's Aqua satellite flew over head yesterday, Sept. 26, and captured two views of it from space. That low pressure area continues to spin counter-clockwise today over the Great Lakes. Its centered over northern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin and is once again going to keep the region cloudy, cool and wet with showers. When the Aqua satellite passed overhead Monday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. EDT (Sept. 26) a detailed, clear image was captured from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument . The clouds from the low spread over Illinois, Wisconsin, parts of Iowa, northeastern Missouri, southeastern Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. A second visible image was captured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that also flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite and showed the huge comma shape of the storm that spans the U.S. from its northern to southern borders. (seen here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6188946564">www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6188946564</a> ) According to the National Weather Service, the low will finally start moving to the east as an upper-atmospheric trough (an elongated area of low pressure) continues to strengthen and move into the upper Midwest. However, a ridge (elongated area) of high pressure will slow its move eastward, so it will be slow clearing this week in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S. Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>

Satellite Shows Difficult Eastern U.S. Thanksgiving Travel

This true color image of the Continental United States was taken on Nov. 25, 2013 by the Suomi NPP satellite and shows the system as it moves through the South and Midwest. The National Weather Service noted that a complex and powerful storm system continues to generate widespread moderate to heavy rainfall and snows in various parts of the eastern United States as travelers make their way to destinations to celebrate Thanksgiving and Hanukkah on Nov. 28. There are two low-pressure areas working together. One was centered near New Jersey while the other was located over the Carolinas. From the Southeast to New England widespread moderate to heavy rainfall is expected. The rains will also affect the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, although those regions are not expected to get as much of a soaking. The Appalachians and interior New England are expected to receive snowfall. Areas of heavy snow are forecast for northwestern Indiana and northwestern Pennsylvania on Nov. 27. Snows will blanket the north central United States from the Dakotas to Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, upstate New York and parts of northern New England. The National Weather Service noted that cold air is moving in behind the storm and drop temperatures along the eastern U.S. making for a chilly Thanksgiving. Credit: NASA/NOAA <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>

NASA Sees Major Winter Storm Headed for Eastern U.S.

On Jan. 20 at 2:30 p.m. EST the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP captured this image of the winter storm moving through the central U.S. Credits: NASA Goddard Rapid Response The low pressure area from the Eastern Pacific Ocean moved into the western U.S. and tracked across the four corners region into Texas where NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite observed the clouds associated with the storm. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP satellite captured the visible image on January 20, 2016 at 19:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. EST) when the storm was over the central U.S. In the image, snow cover is visible in the Rockies and southern Great Lakes states. VIIRS collects visible and infrared imagery and global observations of land, atmosphere, cryosphere and oceans. That low pressure system located over the south central United States on Jan. 21 is expected to track east across the Tennessee Valley and will give way to a deepening coastal low pressure area. The National Weather Service said "This latter feature takes over and becomes a dominant force in setting up heavy snow bands over the Mid-Atlantic and very gusty winds." The storm system is expected to bring an increased risk of severe weather from far southeastern Texas across southern Louisiana/Mississippi, and into the far western Florida Panhandle on Thursday, Jan. 21. That threat for severe weather will move east as the low pressure area continues heading in that direction. 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. Snowfall may approach two feet for some locations, including the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metro areas. Farther north, there is uncertainty in snowfall for the New York City-to-Boston corridor. Farther south, significant icing is likely for portions of Kentucky and North Carolina." <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>

Satellite Image Shows Entry of the Polar Vortex into the Northern U.S.

The Polar Vortex is a whirling and persistent large area of low pressure, found typically over both north and south poles. The northern Polar Vortex is pushing southward over western Wisconsin/eastern Minnesota today, Monday, January 6, 2014 and is bringing frigid temperatures to half of the continental United States. It is expected to move northward back over Canada toward the end of the week. This image was captured by NOAA's GOES-East satellite on January 6, 2014 at 1601 UTC/11:01 a.m. EST. A frontal system that brought rain to the coast is draped from north to south along the U.S. East Coast. Behind the front lies the clearer skies bitter cold air associated with the Polar Vortex. The GOES image also revealed snow on the ground in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Missouri, stretching into the Great Plains. Cloudiness over Texas is associated with a low pressure system centered over western Oklahoma that is part of the cold front connected to the movement of the Polar Vortex. The GOES image was created at NASA's GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Both the northern and southern polar vortices are located in the middle and upper troposphere (lowest level of the atmosphere) and the stratosphere (next level up in the atmosphere). The polar vortex is a winter phenomenon. It develops and strengthens in its respective hemisphere's winter as the sun sets over the polar region and temperatures cool. They weaken in the summer. In the northern hemisphere, they circulate in a counter-clockwise direction, so the vortex sitting over western Wisconsin is sweeping in cold Arctic air around it. The Arctic Polar Vortex peaks in the Northern Hemisphere's wintertime and has already moved southward several times this winter. In the past, it has also moved southward over Europe.On January 21, 1985, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Daily Weather Map series showed a strong polar vortex centered over Maine. The Polar Vortex also affects ozone. For more information on the Polar Vortex and how it affects ozone, visit NASA's Ozone Watch page: <a href="http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/vortex_NH.html" rel="nofollow">ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/vortex_NH.html</a> Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center <a href="http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow">Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a> Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a> Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a>