Satellites have captured a "very strong" nor'easter storm unleashing high winds and heavy snow over the Northeast.
"Blizzard conditions and crippling impacts will continue through much of today for the region," the Weather Prediction Center (WPC), which posted the imagery, wrote on Monday.
In a Monday morning update on the system, the WPC said the powerful winter storm was tracking northeast off the coast of New England, with snowfall rates of 2-3 inches an hour expected to continue at times over the northern Mid-Atlantic Monday morning and eastern New England through the rest of the day, leading to "nearly impossible travel conditions."
"The combination of heavy snowfall and strong winds will continue to produce blizzard conditions along the Northeastern Seaboard today," the agency said. "Sharply reduced visibility will make travel extremely treacherous across these areas," it added.
According to the WPC, wind gusts of 40-70 mph will persist across southeastern New England Monday. The combination of these strong winds and the weight of heavy, wet snow is likely to cause scattered to widespread additional power outages, it said.
"This will be a 'blockbuster blizzard,' with some of the most extreme snowstorm impacts people in the Northeast have seen in years," AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in an email sent to Newsweek on Sunday.
Blizzard warnings from the National Weather Service (NWS) are in place across several states including Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and others as of reporting, with the agency warning of whiteout conditions in some areas.
The inclement weather also impacted hundreds of schools across the Mid-Atlantic and New England on Monday -- including in New York City where students will see their "first real snow day in seven years," according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, with "no remote learning, no logging on."
Travel has also been restricted in the city through noon local time Monday, except for essential and emergency trips, Mamdani said.
Footage and images shared on social media showed the city caked in snow as the powerful nor'easter struck.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill declared states of emergencies over the weekend, as did Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
A nor'easter is a coastal storm that affects the East Coast of North America and is named for the northeasterly winds that typically batter shoreline areas during these events. The NWS notes that while nor'easters can form at any time of year, they are most common and most intense between September and April.