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NOAA Satellites Capture the Chilling Impact of Polar Vortex

January 11, 2025
Snow-covered pathway in Riverdale Park, Maryland after a winter storm, photographed on January 6, 2025. The path is bordered by tall snowbanks, with a few pedestrians in winter attire walking in the distance. Snow continues to fall lightly, and trees and power poles line the background.

The new year has gotten off to a cold and snowy start with the polar vortex affecting much of the United States along with the first coast-to-coast storm of 2025.

The polar vortex is a stream of cold air that normally circles the Arctic. Normally contained by a strong jet stream, this ring of frigid arctic air can become unstable when the jet stream weakens, allowing it to spill southward. During the week of Jan. 6, 2025, this phenomenon brought below-freezing temperatures to much of the United States, and fueled a winter storm that dumped snow and ice across several states. 

The image shows the mid-Atlantic states (Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey) under a cover of white snow. The ground is visible in brown and green and the Chesapeake Bay is blue and green in the center of the image. On the right side of the image, the Atlantic Ocean is visible in blue and green with white clouds above it. In the top left corner of the image, white clouds are also visible as waves of white.

This image from the NOAA-21 satellite captures a blanket of white snow covering parts of the mid-Atlantic states, where several inches fell on January 6, 2025.
 

Six maps of the contiguous United States are shown in green and white. Swaths of satellite imagery appear over top of the map from the west coast to the east coast showing a winter storm in blue and green pixels as it crossed the country.  The blue and greens in the strom images represent snowfall rate. In the bottom left corner of each map, a color bar ranging from blue to deep red shows the colors that represent various rates of snowfall that could appear in the storm images. In the top left corner of eac

These images, created using microwave measurements from NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), show liquid-equivalent snowfall rates across the United States on Jan. 5-6, 2025. The storm swept across the country, bringing dangerous snow, ice, and wind to millions, disrupting flights, closing schools, and impacting several major U.S. cities. 

JPSS satellites play a vital role in monitoring winter weather as they orbit Earth’s poles. Their orbits provide frequent views of the polar regions, enabling scientists to track polar vortex patterns. These satellites also contribute to more accurate forecasting of cold temperatures and help predict where winter weather will occur.