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February 8, 2022 - Swath of Snow and Ice across the U.S.
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A fierce winter storm left a swath of snow and ice from southern Texas to northern Maine—roughly two thousand miles (3,220 km)—in early February 2022. The complex event was created by the clash of a large arctic air mass that swept southeastward across the United States from Canada and a warm, humid mass of air that moved northwestward over the southeastern states. When the two extreme masses of air collided, ice and snow formed—and lots of it. Reports of ice up to .75 inches (1.9 cm) thick were recorded from places as diverse as Bonham, Texas, Atoka, Tennessee and Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. According to The Weather Channel, heaviest ice came in at 0.80 inches (2.0 cm) in Lake Ariel, a town in northeastern Pennsylvania. The storm didn’t slack on snow, either. Accumulations measured in feet in many locations, but the snow-total winner was Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico where 37 inches (94 cm) of fresh snow fell. Other major snow totals included Colorado Springs, Colorado, with 22 inches (56 cm) and Leiters Ford, Indiana, with 17 in (43 cm). The precipitation and strong winds snarled traffic, closed roads, caused hundreds of flight cancellations, and widespread power outages.
On February 6, 2022, the skies had cleared enough to permit the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite to capture a true-color image of a portion of the aftermath of the storm. Snow can be seen from eastern North Dakota to western Vermont, and as far south as eastern Texas. The storm began on February 1 and finally moved over the Atlantic Ocean on February 5.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/6/2022
Resolutions:
1km (1.3 MB), 500m (4.2 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
A fierce winter storm left a swath of snow and ice from southern Texas to northern Maine—roughly two thousand miles (3,220 km)—in early February 2022. The complex event was created by the clash of a large arctic air mass that swept southeastward across the United States from Canada and a warm, humid mass of air that moved northwestward over the southeastern states. When the two extreme masses of air collided, ice and snow formed—and lots of it. Reports of ice up to .75 inches (1.9 cm) thick were recorded from places as diverse as Bonham, Texas, Atoka, Tennessee and Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. According to The Weather Channel, heaviest ice came in at 0.80 inches (2.0 cm) in Lake Ariel, a town in northeastern Pennsylvania. The storm didn’t slack on snow, either. Accumulations measured in feet in many locations, but the snow-total winner was Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico where 37 inches (94 cm) of fresh snow fell. Other major snow totals included Colorado Springs, Colorado, with 22 inches (56 cm) and Leiters Ford, Indiana, with 17 in (43 cm). The precipitation and strong winds snarled traffic, closed roads, caused hundreds of flight cancellations, and widespread power outages.
On February 6, 2022, the skies had cleared enough to permit the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite to capture a true-color image of a portion of the aftermath of the storm. Snow can be seen from eastern North Dakota to western Vermont, and as far south as eastern Texas. The storm began on February 1 and finally moved over the Atlantic Ocean on February 5.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/6/2022
Resolutions:
1km (1.3 MB), 500m (4.2 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
