December 13, 2019 - Ice on Lake Balkhash

Winter weather comes early and often in southeastern Kazakhstan, bringing snow and sub-freezing temperatures long before the calendar marks “official” winter. By the opening days of December, 2019, the region had been locked in frigid weather as winter precipitation colored the landscape.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of southeastern Kazakhstan on December 1. The ice and snow covering Balkhash’s milky-blue waters testify to an extended period of below-freezing temperatures, while the sweeps of snow across the arid landscape surrounding the lake are evidence of wind-whipped snowstorms that crossed the region in late November.

The crescent-shaped Lake Balkhash, the second largest lake in Central Asia, sits in the Balkhash-Alakol depression in southeastern Kazakhstan. The spectacular lake stretches over 7,115 square miles (18,428 sq. km), about 85% of which is in Kazakhstan, about 15% in China, and a small bit of waterfront can be found in Kyrgyzstan. Balkhash is quite long - about 376 mi (605 km) - but it is narrow. At its widest, the lake reaches 50 miles (80 km) across but only 15 mi (24 km) at its narrowest points.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/1/2019
Resolutions: 1km (149.7 KB), 500m (430.9 KB), 250m (317.8 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC