NASA MODIS Image of the Day: January 26, 2012 – Snow in the Pacific Northwest (true color)
A severe winter storm pummeled the Pacific Northwest in late January 2012, icing roads, downing power lines, and prompting avalanche warnings.
On January 20, more than 250,000 customers were without electricity, as utility crews struggled to restore power, news sources said.
Rising temperatures and potential new rainfall raised the possibility of flooding in the days that followed. Snow still blanketed much of Washington state on January 23, 2012, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image. Snow blankets the region east of Seattle and Portland, stretching all the way to the Idaho border. In the band of forest along the Pacific Coast, snow may be more prevalent than it appears, as it is sometimes hidden from satellite imagers by trees. Warmer air blew into the region soon after the storm, adding to hazardous conditions. Flooding closed roads and forced some residents into emergency shelters. Another storm followed on the heels of this one, bringing drenching coastal rain and heavy mountain snow to the region on January 24, before tapering off to snow showers the next day. On January 25, Accuweather reported that despite the slight “break” in the action, flooding concerns will continue through at least the end of the workweek, because another low pressure system is expected to take shape and blast the region on January 26 with more rain, snow and wind.
