NASA MODIS Image of the Day: December 14, 2011 – Snow in northeastern United States
A snowstorm moved across the northeastern United States in early December, 2011, blanketing sections of the region with a seasonal band of white.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image on December 11, 2011.
Snow can be seen capping the higher elevations as far south as southern Virginia, and covers parts of the Appalachian Mountains through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and the western edges of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. Lake-effect snow has left its mark on the eastern side of Lake Huron (the northwestern lake), Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie, blanketing the ground downwind of these lakes in white. Lake effect snow occurs when a mass of very cold air flows over a body of warmer water, creating an unstable temperature profile in the atmosphere. When this happens, clouds build over the lake and snow squalls and showers develop as the clouds are pushed downwind over land. While the other two Great Lakes appear mostly dark blue, the western section of Lake Erie contains swirls of green, aqua and tan. This discoloration is the result of a thick and persistent algae bloom. Lake Erie was known for dangerous and thick algae blooms in the early 1970s. Changes in farming practices, waste management and industrial management sharply reduced phosphorus in the lake, and the drop in this nutrient controlled the amount of algae in the lake, making the lake a symbol of successful ecosystem recovery. Since 1995, however, the blooms are once again getting worse. The cause is multifactorial, and includes warming lake temperatures from climate change, an increase in dissolved phosphorus, and increasing number of run-off events caused by severe storms in the region.
