NASA MODIS Image of the Day: December 21, 2011 – Snow in central Asia
Snow and ice covered the land of Central Asia on December 19, 2011 when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite flew overhead and captured this true-color image.
The primary country captured in this image is Kazakhstan, where the snow is especially thick between the northern Aral Sea and border of Russia.
South of the Aral Sea the snow layer thins, leaving the dry lands of Uzbekistan bare. While winter snow and ice is common in this region, heavy snowfall can cause problems for travel and personal safety. On December 18, the Kazinform news agency reported that the bad weather conditions caused the regional and republican motorways to be closed for public transport and diesel-powered vehicles in the city of Astana, and the regions Akmola, Karaganda and Pavlodar. On December 19 it was reported that ninety people were rescued from their vehicles in a “snow jam” on the Shayan-Kazata-Agybet highway in Southern Kazakhstan, and that three children suffered carbon monoxide poisoning due to troubles with the furnaces at a summer cottage in Astana. Astana lies in the northeastern portion of this image, but cannot be easily seen due to the blanket of snow.
