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March 12, 2026 - MacDonnell Ranges
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Widespread rain soaked southern Northern Territory, Australia in late February 2026. By March 9, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image, extreme moisture had triggered vigorous growth of vegetation in the usually arid region, coating the MacDonnell Ranges in green. These mountains stretch over 640 kilometers (398 miles), aligned in a roughly east-west axis across the arid “Red Centre” of the southern Northern Territory.
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology BoM), Alice Springs, a town surrounded by the MacDonnell Range, saw 16 days in February that 1 millimeter (.04 inch) or more rain occurred. The average for February is 3.3 days with that much rain. A map of rainfall in February 2026 was published by the BoM and showed that southern Northern Territory received 400 percent of the 1991-2020 February average rainfall during that period.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 3/9/2026
Resolutions:
1km (234.7 KB), 500m (581 KB), 250m (1.3 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Widespread rain soaked southern Northern Territory, Australia in late February 2026. By March 9, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image, extreme moisture had triggered vigorous growth of vegetation in the usually arid region, coating the MacDonnell Ranges in green. These mountains stretch over 640 kilometers (398 miles), aligned in a roughly east-west axis across the arid “Red Centre” of the southern Northern Territory.
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology BoM), Alice Springs, a town surrounded by the MacDonnell Range, saw 16 days in February that 1 millimeter (.04 inch) or more rain occurred. The average for February is 3.3 days with that much rain. A map of rainfall in February 2026 was published by the BoM and showed that southern Northern Territory received 400 percent of the 1991-2020 February average rainfall during that period.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 3/9/2026
Resolutions:
1km (234.7 KB), 500m (581 KB), 250m (1.3 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
