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April 6, 2026 - Cloud Streets Over the Labrador Sea
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The skies over the Labrador Sea were adorned by strikingly beautiful rows of parallel cumulus clouds on April 2, 2026, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image.
The clouds stretch from just off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (west) and reach towards Greenland, which lies just off the edge of the image. Sea ice clings fast to the coast of Canada in some locations, while swirls and floating chunks of sea ice are evidence of warming sea temperatures as spring advances.
This type of cloud formation is known as “cloud streets” and indicates that strong, cold winds were blowing off the land and southeast over relatively warmer water. Even though the sea ice melting indicates warming temperatures, there is still plenty of ice and snow on land, and frigid blasts of Arctic air to produce very cold, dry air over land. The melting also creates enough open water to provide both moisture and warmth necessary to create cloud streets.
Cloud streets are formed when the icy, dry air draws columns of warm, moist air upward in moving columns known as thermals. The moist air rises through the chilled air until it hits a warmer layer of air (a temperature inversion) that acts like a cap. As the inversion stops the upward motion, water vapor condenses into clouds. The air then begins to descend again, and the sky becomes clear. This gives the typical cloud-clear-cloud layout of cloud streets.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 4/2/2026
Resolutions:
1km (703 KB), 500m (1.9 MB), 250m (5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The skies over the Labrador Sea were adorned by strikingly beautiful rows of parallel cumulus clouds on April 2, 2026, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image.
The clouds stretch from just off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (west) and reach towards Greenland, which lies just off the edge of the image. Sea ice clings fast to the coast of Canada in some locations, while swirls and floating chunks of sea ice are evidence of warming sea temperatures as spring advances.
This type of cloud formation is known as “cloud streets” and indicates that strong, cold winds were blowing off the land and southeast over relatively warmer water. Even though the sea ice melting indicates warming temperatures, there is still plenty of ice and snow on land, and frigid blasts of Arctic air to produce very cold, dry air over land. The melting also creates enough open water to provide both moisture and warmth necessary to create cloud streets.
Cloud streets are formed when the icy, dry air draws columns of warm, moist air upward in moving columns known as thermals. The moist air rises through the chilled air until it hits a warmer layer of air (a temperature inversion) that acts like a cap. As the inversion stops the upward motion, water vapor condenses into clouds. The air then begins to descend again, and the sky becomes clear. This gives the typical cloud-clear-cloud layout of cloud streets.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 4/2/2026
Resolutions:
1km (703 KB), 500m (1.9 MB), 250m (5 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
