January 27, 2020 - Snow in Arizona

A winter storm swept across the United States in late January, 2020, bringing rain and snow from the West Coast to the Northwest. On January 21, most of Arizona felt the effects of the precipitation-making weather system, with rain falling in the lower elevations and snow dropping on the mountains. By January 23, the sun was shining again in that state as foul weather gripped the Midwest.

On January 23 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of snow blanketing the high elevations of Arizona after the storm. The Grand Canyon can be seen in the northwest section of the image, appearing as rugged tan terrain surrounding the Colorado River. To the north of the Grand Canyon, the Kaibab Plateau is covered in snow. The finely-textured white patch to the northeast of the Kaibab Plateau is not snow, but low cloud (fog) hanging over the Colorado River.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 1/23/2020
Resolutions: 1km (394.9 KB), 500m (1.1 MB), 250m (926 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC