A cold, white blanket covered most of the continental U.S. in early January 2017. Most states received a dusting, though there were blizzard-like conditions in some areas, USA Today reported. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this image on January 7, 2017.

The weekend storm delivered nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters) of snow—one of the highest totals—to East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. In the South, unusually cold weather delayed hundreds of flights and prompted states of emergency in parts of Georgia and Alabama. Farther to the west and north, freezing rain doused Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City metro areas. Officials warned of “extremely dangerous” travel conditions.

Snow also blanketed the Texas Panhandle, an area that will continue to see temperatures well below average in the coming week, according to meteorologists. Forecasts for Amarillo, Texas, predict a weather roller-coaster ride: sunshine and 72 degrees Farenheit (22 degrees C) one day, and blustery, below-freezing temperatures and several inches of snow on another.

The images below, captured in the same week as the image above by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites, show snow blanketing the Pacific Northwest as well as the East Coast.

• References and Related Reading

• Amarillo Globe-News (2017, January 5) Four inches of snow possible in Amarillo. Accessed January 9, 2017.
• Reuters (2017, January 6) Winter storm hits U.S. South with rare snowfall. Accessed January 9, 2017.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Pola Lem.

Instrument(s): 

Suomi NPP - VIIRS

Aqua - MODIS

Terra - MODIS