Around the Hoop

NASA satellite captures image of monster storm

It's freezing outside as one of the largest storms since the 1950s is plowing through 30 states today, dropping mercury to unbearable lows, canceling flights, snarling traffic and dumping copious amounts of snow.

Visibility on Aspen Mountain was mostly poor yesterday as the clouds gathered and unleashed sporadic snow showers throughout the day and evening. Not only was everyone wearing a shirt, but buttoned-down parkas too.

This morning the Aspen Skiing Company is reporting five inches in Aspen, seven inches at Aspen Highlands, nine inches in Snowmass and three in Buttermilk. Vail Resorts is reporting eight inches at Beaver Creek, two inches at Vail, four inches at Breckenridge and two inches at Keystone.

The National Weather Service and Real Vail's own Powder Predictor say more snow is on the way.

The storm is spanning some 2,500 miles, from the Rocky Mountains to New England.

Check out this National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellite image taken at 7:01 a.m.

A visible image captured by the GOES-13 satellite this morning, Feb. 1 at 1401 UTC (9:01 a.m. EST) showed the low pressure area stretching from the Colorado Rockies and Texas east to New England and a massive area of clouds over the Midwest. The image showed what appeared to be "tails" over Texas and the Gulf coast. Those "tails" are areas where severe thunderstorms are possible today.
NASA