Images
March 6, 2020 - Snowy and warm Scandinavia
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Much of Scandinavia was covered by a coating of bright what snow in late February, 2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the region on February 27. From left to right the countries in this image are Norway, Sweden and Finland. Both Norway and Sweden wear a full coating of snow, while green vegetation shows in southern Finland.
A small amount of ice sits in the northern portion of the Gulf of Bothnia while green swirls further south are most likely caused by sediment washed into the Gulf, possibly from runoff of significant precipitation in the form of rain rather than snow. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the melting season in the Baltic Sea region typically begins in April and proceeds from the south to the north. By early May it can be expected to have ice remaining only in the northern Bay of Bothnia, where the last pieces typically melt by the beginning of June.
This winter has been unusually warm in this region, with January registering as the warmest January on record for Europe. In early February, the Washington Post noted that Helsinki, the capital of Finland, made it above freezing every day in January this year. The average January high in that city is only 30°F (-1.1°C). In fact, Weather Underground shows the high temperatures dipping below freezing on only one day in February and March in Helsinki—that was 28°F (-2.2°C) on February 4. The temperature has risen above 40°F (4.4°C) for 21 days from January 1 to March 5, 2020.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/27/2020
Resolutions:
1km (992.7 KB), 500m (3.4 MB), 250m (11.2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Much of Scandinavia was covered by a coating of bright what snow in late February, 2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the region on February 27. From left to right the countries in this image are Norway, Sweden and Finland. Both Norway and Sweden wear a full coating of snow, while green vegetation shows in southern Finland.
A small amount of ice sits in the northern portion of the Gulf of Bothnia while green swirls further south are most likely caused by sediment washed into the Gulf, possibly from runoff of significant precipitation in the form of rain rather than snow. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the melting season in the Baltic Sea region typically begins in April and proceeds from the south to the north. By early May it can be expected to have ice remaining only in the northern Bay of Bothnia, where the last pieces typically melt by the beginning of June.
This winter has been unusually warm in this region, with January registering as the warmest January on record for Europe. In early February, the Washington Post noted that Helsinki, the capital of Finland, made it above freezing every day in January this year. The average January high in that city is only 30°F (-1.1°C). In fact, Weather Underground shows the high temperatures dipping below freezing on only one day in February and March in Helsinki—that was 28°F (-2.2°C) on February 4. The temperature has risen above 40°F (4.4°C) for 21 days from January 1 to March 5, 2020.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/27/2020
Resolutions:
1km (992.7 KB), 500m (3.4 MB), 250m (11.2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
