File:Satellite Shows Massive Eastern U.S. Cool Down (13130091433).jpg

A powerful weather system moved from the central U.S. to the east coast from March 11 to March 13 making the shocking temperature change. Over the course of three days, Washington, D.C.'s daytime temperatures plummeted by over 40 degrees and brought wind chills in the teens on March 13.

The National Weather Service reported the high temperature at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. on March 11 hit 72. On March 12, the high topped out at 69 before a powerful cold front moved in. On March 13 at 12 p.m. EDT the airport reported 28F with northwesterly winds gusting to 37 mph. That made the wind chill feel like 13F at lunchtime. That's a 59 degree difference from the way it felt in the city two days before.

Further north, the storm also brought snow with the gusty winds and generated Blizzard Warnings to Buffalo, N.Y. on March 12 where heavy snow fell totaling 13.8 inches. The National Weather Service in Buffalo reported the highest sustained wind speed was 36 mph, and highest winds gusted to 47 mph. According to the National Weather Service, Buffalo's snowy winter has dropped 120.6 inches of snow, or 10 feet, 6 inches for the season.

In a short range public discussion, NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center in College Park Md. noted on March 13 at 4:33 a.m. EDT: Conditions will gradually clear out across the Northeast on Thursday as the winter storm that dumped over a foot of snow over interior New England tracks farther up the Eastern Seaboard. Strong northwesterly winds behind the storm will make for a blustery day across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States... but winds should begin to diminish and temperatures will start to rebound once the storm lifts into the Canadian Maritimes on Friday.

NOAA's GOES-East satellite sits in a fixed orbit in space capturing visible and infrared imagery of all weather over the eastern U.S. and Atlantic Ocean.

For updated information about the storm system, visit NOAA's NWS website: www.weather.gov

For more information about GOES satellites, visit: www.goes.noaa.gov/ or goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center 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.

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