A significant winter storm system swept across the East Coast over the weekend, causing severe flooding in Tennessee and Kentucky, as revealed in newly released satellite images from NASA.

The satellite images depict the winding path of the Mississippi River in western Tennessee and eastern Arkansas and Missouri. Additionally, they show that the rivers and water bodies east of the Mississippi in Tennessee were inundated with up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rainfall over a 48-hour period. Following a levee failure near the town of Rives, on the Obion River, which is visible as the overflowed waterway in the top-right of the above image, a state of emergency was declared in Tennessee.

The week was marked by extreme weather conditions. Winter weather advisories were issued for more than half of the states, while 11 states received flash flood watches. On the west coast, California experienced heavy rains that triggered mudslides. The severe flood conditions in Tennessee and Kentucky were significant enough to be visible from space.

NASA’s Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on the Landsat 9 satellite captured false-color images of the rivers in western Tennessee on February 17. To help distinguish between water, land, and vegetation, NASA utilized specific color bands in the images.

According to a summary by the National Weather Service, the majority of the rainfall occurred on Valentine’s Day, with at least a dozen river sites experiencing crests within the top five recorded crests. In Kentucky, 30 flood warnings, 47 flash flood warnings, 11 severe thunderstorm warnings, and two tornado warnings were issued, resulting in the closure of over 300 roads and leaving tens of thousands without power.

As reported by NASA’s Earth Observatory, a U.S. Geological Survey water gauge in Obion, Tennessee, recorded a water level of 39.8 feet (12 meters), exceeding the flood stage of 34 feet (10.4 meters).

Hydrographs of the affected rivers in Kentucky are available on the service’s website. However, cloud cover over the state prevented satellites from capturing similar images in areas north of Tennessee, where some of the most destructive flash flooding occurred.

Furthermore, the weather service predicts that flurries and snow showers are expected in western Kentucky, with temperatures only reaching the lower 20s in the days following the severe floods. Similar snowy conditions are also expected in southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana.