View larger. | A frigid “blanket” of clouds and snow over the Arctic, extending down to the southeastern U.S., on January 28, 2014. Image via GOES-East satellite. Credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project.
NOAA’s GOES-East satellite captured this image of snow on the ground and clouds overhead, looking like a blanket over the Arctic on January 28, 2014. This blanket isn’t warm, though. In fact, as the image shows, this frigid Arctic air surged into the U.S. this week, dropping temperatures in the southeastern U.S. into the 20s. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center wrote on its Flickr page:
According to NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), the Gulf coast states from southern Louisiana east to the Carolinas are facing a wintry mix of precipitation along the southern edge of the Arctic air. Meanwhile, NWS notes that wind chills throughout much of the central and eastern U.S. are in single and negative numbers during the day on January 28.
Bottom line: GOES-East satellite image of what appears to be a blanket covering the Arctic on January 28, 2014.
Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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