If you're living in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeastern US, you woke up to bitter, cold weather on Thursday after a welcome couple of days of spring-like warmth.
In some parts of the US, the temperatures plummeted by more than 40 degrees in a matter of days or even overnight, thanks to a powerful weather system that moved from the central US to the East Coast over March 11 to March 13.
On Tuesday, the high temperature at Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport reached 72 degrees Fahrenheit, but by Thursday the cold front slashed temperatures down to 28 F in the same location, with wind gusts of up to 37 mph, creating a wind chill effect that made it feel like 13 F at midday. That's a 59 degree difference between how the weather in D.C. felt just two days before.
The bursts of wind Thursday have enhanced the threat of spreading wildfire in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area, the Weather Channel reported.
The National Weather Service said Thursday morning that winter storm warning and winter weather advisory are still in effect across much of New England, and wind advisories are in effect for parts ot the Mid-Atlantic and the central and southern Appalachians.
NASA has compiled a video of satellite weather data showing the approach of the winter weather system, using three days of data from its GOES-East satellite.
The geostationary satellite is always in the same position over Earth, enabling to it capture a continuous stream of data from the same location.
The video reveals a remarkable eastward push of air and heavy snow systems can be observed. The data were synthesized from the GOES-East satellite and overlays it with a true-color map created by data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites.
"Together, those data created the entire picture of the storm and show its movement," NASA said in a statement. "After the storm system passes, the snow on the ground becomes visible."