“In February 2013, a nor’easter pounded the eastern United States, doing particular damage along the coast of New England. Wind gusts reached hurricane-force in several coastal states, raising a four to five-foot (1 to 1.5 meter) storm surge on top of astronomically high tides. The result was extreme beach erosion along the coast of Massachusetts and other coastal areas.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured glimpses of the storm’s effect on the coastal environment. This image was taken on February 10, 2013, just hours after the nor’easter moved out to sea and several feet of fresh snow covered the landscape.” 

This next image shows the same place but with with the waters at a calmer time.

See on earthobservatory.nasa.gov