Spring Snow in the U.S. Midwest

A few days after one spring snowstorm blanketed the Northeastern United States, another storm streaked across the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. Starting on March 23, that storm was notable for dropping a narrow band of snow with sharp, well-defined edges.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image on March 25, 2018. The narrow band of white was the result of a fast-moving, vigorous disturbance in the flow of the atmosphere, according to a story from The Washington Post. Areas with heavy snow cover stood just a few miles from areas with no snow at all.

The largest snowfall totals were measured in Northern Iowa and Southwest Virginia. In Mason City, Iowa, 45 centimeters (17.5 inches) were reported to have accumulated; areas near Meadows of Dan, Virginia, received 40 centimeters (16 inches). In Martinsville, Virginia, NASCAR racing events scheduled for March 25 were postponed due to accumulations there.

• References

• The Capital Weather Gang via The Washington Post (2018, March 26) Super compact storm imprints razor-sharp streak of snow from Iowa to Southwest Virginia. Accessed March 27, 2018.
• NASCAR (2018, March 25) Martinsville schedule: Doubleheader postponed to Monday. Accessed March 27, 2018.
• The Weather Channel (2018, March 24) Winter Storm Uma Brought Heavy, Wet Snow From the Midwest to the Appalachians (RECAP). Accessed March 27, 2018.

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NASA Earth Observatory images by Jeff Schmaltz, using MODIS data from LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Kathryn Hansen.

Published March 27, 2018
Data acquired March 25, 2018

Source:

Terra > MODIS

Collection:

MODIS Rapid Response