Bad weather is the last thing on everyone's minds, most especially during Christmas week. However, tornadoes and high winds will not be stopped, as shown on data captured by NASA's RapidScat and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite on the severe weather.
A storm system formed on Dec. 23 was captured by NASA's RapidScat instrument on the International Space Station in the act of bringing tornadoes to Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi, making high winds responsible for the Gulf Coast's severe weather the day before Christmas Eve highly visible. Additionally, NOAA's GOES-East satellite (also referred to as GOES-13) provided animations of the storm system's movement as well as other weather systems from South America to Canada between Dec. 21 and 24.
Over the Gulf of Mexico, high winds were clearly seen by RapidScat while tornadoes were making their rounds in Mississippi late Dec. 23. One of the images captured by NASA's instrument showed winds going as fast as 67.1 miles per hour off Texas' southeastern coast. As the storm system headed east, it also brought winds of the same strength and speed near east of Alabama's Mobile Bay and south central Louisiana.
Using data from RapidScat and the GOES-East satellite, NASA made a video showing the weather system developing and moving as it spawned tornadoes along the way, affecting the U.S. Gulf Coast right before Christmas. To achieve this, NASA took cloud data and laid it over a true-color image of the area based on information from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument flying on agency's Terra and Aqua satellites.
In addition to local weather updates, computer models and soundings, satellite data is used by forecasters to get a better understanding of weather situations as they develop. Data from the GOES-East satellite offers real-time information so forecasters know exactly what the weather is like in certain areas.
The National Weather Service said that as people made their way to Christmas Eve dinners, widespread rain also enveloped eastern parts of the country while wind and snow was abundant in the Great Lakes region. Even more snow fell on the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin. Western U.S., on the other hand, felt the effects of the weather system Dec. 25, experiencing widespread showers of snow from the western High Plains to Washington State.
The NWS added that southeastern states will be getting strong to severe thunderstorms but heaviest rainfall in the country will be seen south of Virginia State. Elevation snow showers are also likely to occur in northern and central parts of the Appalachians once the cold front passes through.
