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Satellite Image Shows 'Incredible' Storm Stretching Across North Atlantic

That's the coast of the U.S. on the left, the tip of Greenland at the top center and the coast of Europe on the top right. Meanwhile, the storm's tail extends down into the Caribbean.
NOAA Satellite and Information Service
That's the coast of the U.S. on the left, the tip of Greenland at the top center and the coast of Europe on the top right. Meanwhile, the storm's tail extends down into the Caribbean.

The same weather system that left a few inches of snow on parts of the eastern U.S. earlier this week is now over the North Atlantic, and Jason Samenow of The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang says he's not sure he's ever "seen a storm this big before."

As you can see from this satellite image, it's a storm that stretches from Newfoundland to Portugal, north to Greenland and has a tail that extends south into the Caribbean.

Wave heights along the storm's northern edge are projected to approach 30 feet. Capital Weather Gang says it's an "incredible," intense storm that's "comparable to many Category 3 hurricanes."

Fortunately, this monster is expected to stay out over the ocean for a few days and then weaken as it gets to western Europe next week.

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.