Winter storm Juno is nearly upon the East Coast of the United States, and many are already claiming that it is bound to be a historic nor'easter, with record total snowfall and wind speeds in some parts. Now NASA and the NOAA have released satellite footage showing just how a potentially "historic" storm forms.

[Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project]

Juno's 'birth' officially began only two days ago, with all other weather events preceding that still only tentatively hinting at the formation of a winter storm. However, by this past weekend, a large and low cold front pushed off the East Coast, paving the way for a low pressure zone to shift from the midwest to the southeast. By Monday, the NOAA was reporting that the low zone had moved across the Carolinas and into the Atlantic Ocean, where it gained energy and grew.

Small clashes with warmer winds above those waters helped whip up blizzard-level winds, with strong gusts (but no snow) reaching as far as Florida. With the low pressure system moving north, and buffeting cold air continuing to blow south, the storm system is turning into what can be best described as a giant wet Frisbee spinning counterclockwise. That Frisbee, with more and more moisture being lifted from the Atlantic's cold Labrador Current, is what we call a nor'easter.

As things stand, the NOAA expects Juno to bring one to three feet of snow to a good portion of the Northeast, primarily hitting New York City, Boston, and the whole of Rhode Island.

Still, it's important to ask whether Juno will actually be "historic." According to the Weather Channel, for many areas it won't be, with projected snowfall not even reaching into the top five worst blizzards for Boston and New York.

However, as shown by the NASA GOES East satellite footage, Juno might simply be more true to its nature as a nor'easter, heading hard in the direction of its namesake. This leaves New York and Massachusetts out of the worst of it, but Rhode Island may be doomed for a frontal assault. As things stand, the tiny state is expecting the third highest snowfall it has seen since the early 1960s.

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