Where the Runoff From Last Week's Rain Went

These before (Aug. 23) and after (Sept. 11) images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's environmental visualization lab show how much silt, mud and debris that accumulated in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries after weeks of excessive rain.

The visual data was acquired by the NASA Aqua satellite and processed by NOAA CoastWatch. According to the NOAA, the Chesapeake Bay is part of the largest watershed in the Northeast and is fed by rivers and streams from Central New York through Virginia, including the Potomac River.

But over the past two weeks, persistent rains — as much as 32 inches in some areas, according to the NOAA — dumped all this rain rain and runoff in to the bay. Locally, the water quality of the Potmac was so bad, that the organizers for the Nation’s Triathlon in Washington on Sept. 11 had to cancel the swim portion of the competition.