January 24, 2009 - Fog and Snow in the Pacific Northwest

Fog and Snow in the Pacific Northwest

Today's image shows a wintery scene in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and in British Columbia, Canada. In the upper left corner of the image is Vancouver Island. Further south is (across from the left) Washington, Idaho, Montana, and south of Washington, Oregon.

Present in this scene are both snow and fog - in a true color image (like the one you will see if you mouse over the image) they are difficult to distinguish. But in false color, the red color corresponds to areas with snow. Clouds are and fog white, and vegetation is bright green. This makes the fog really stand out. You can see it filling in all the valleys, tracing the shape of the mountains, especially in the Rockies, which run south from British Columbia through Idaho and Montana.

The image was captured by the MODIS on the Terra satellite on January 18, 2009. A high resolution version of the true-color image can be downloaded at the Rapid Response Website.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 01/18/2009
Resolutions: 1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 7,2,1 and 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC