Satellite sees cold front in U.S. East

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GREENBELT, Md., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- NASA says an earth-observing satellite has captured an image of a powerful cold front moving toward the U.S. east coast, wiping out spring-like temperatures.

The image, taken at 1:25 p.m. EST by the GOES-13 satellite, revealed a line of clouds that stretches from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast, bringing wintertime temperatures and powerful thunderstorms with the potential to be severe, the space agency reported.

The front, moving east toward the Atlantic Ocean, has caused severe thunderstorm watches to be issued for several states by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.

Earlier Wednesday, officials in Tennessee and Georgia had already reported damage from severe storms as squall lines moved through the region.

The storm center has warned of the risk of severe weather stretching from the upper Ohio Valley south to the central Gulf Coast and east to the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern U.S. coast.

The GOES-13 satellite, operated by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, it tasked with providing real-time visible and infrared imagery of weather over the eastern United States.