To kick of the new year, 2018, we start off with a Nor’Easter that has developed over the East Coast and has brought freezing rain, sleet, snow, and high winds to the coastal areas, ranging from northeast Florida, the Carolinas to the New England areas. This particular storm experienced rapid cyclogenesis: a significant decrease in pressure of the low-pressure system (i.e. nor’easter) within a short period of time, producing high amounts of precipitation and high winds for the states along the East Coast.
The latest Near-Constant Contrast (NCC) imagery (shown below) highlights the magnitude of this storm as of this morning, 4 January 2018 @ 0614Z (~0114 local time). The NCC imagery product, is a derived product of the Day/Night Band (DNB) which utilizes a sun/moon reflectance model that illuminates atmospheric features, senses reflected and emitted light sources and monitors the distribution of clouds during the nighttime. At the time the satellite image was taken, the center of the storm appears to be located just east of the state of North Carolina, as it makes its way north to the New England states. What one can also see is the corresponding snow fields that were produced after the storm passed, seen in the red rectangle. The snow fields stretch from southern Georgia all the way to the Carolinas in this image. In complement to the imagery, in the top-right corner, is the moon percent visibility and moon elevation angle, implying the moon provided adequate moonlight and was above the horizon when the satellite image was taken.
NCC @ 0614Z, 4 January 2018