Lesotho   08/05/06

Snow in Lesotho and South Africa

Unusually cold temperatures and snow marked the first week of August 2006 in South Africa. When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this image on August 5, most of Lesotho, an enclave within South Africa, was covered with snow. The snow highlights the country's mountainous terrain, with the peaks reflecting bright white light and the valleys in shadow. The snowstorm trapped 39 people who had to be rescued from Lesotho's mountain roads by helicopter, reported the BBC. No injuries were reported.

Text and image courtesy of NASA's Earth Observatory.