March 12, 2019 - Snow in the Western United States

Snow in the Western United States

Winter in the Western United States most often is washed in white, especially the high mountains where the skiers enjoy world-class snow. The winter of 2019 has brought heavy snow and even blizzard conditions to the mountains and plains, but also dumped snow across the desert several times.

Between March 1 and 10, two major snowstorms had rolled across the West before sweeping across the entire country to reach the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. The first storm completed a coast-to-coast journey from March 2 to 4, bringing 35 inches (88.9 cm) of snow to parts of Colorado and 25.5 inches (65 cm) in Wyoming in just one day. Then, on March 7, a second storm ramped up along the West Coast and struck the Rockies on March 8 before ending in New England on March 10. Dozens of avalanches have been reported in parts of the Rockies as a result of these storms.

But the March snows continue. On March 11, warnings were issued for a third storm, which is expected to bring substantial snow to the West before intensifying and creating blizzard conditions for the Plains states. Wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph (72-97 km/h) are expected, especially across the Plains.

On March 3, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of snow covering the Western United States. The clouds part to allow a view of the green waters of the Great Salt Lake, in Utah, in the south. In the north, the black line marks the boundary between the United States and Canada.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 3/3/2019
Resolutions: 1km (300.9 KB), 500m (826.3 KB), 250m (2.7 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC