MODIS true color image and corresponding MOD10_L2 snow map of Western Turkey on the 27th of January 2004.
Large winter storms and sub-zero temperatures moved through the eastern Mediterranean during the last week of January 2004. The storms brought heavy snows to western Turkey, shown here in this true-color Aqua MODIS image from January 27, 2004. An estimated dozen lives were lost due to the temperatures and snow, many due to being trapped in their cars by deadly conditions and severely restricted visibility. Authorities even shut down the Bosphorus, the main maritime route between the Black Sea and the Marmara Denizi, because of strong winds and heavy snowfall, which severely restricted visibility. The storms brought over a month's worth of precipitation in just a few days.
At the top of the true color image, the Marmara Denizi's dark blue waters stand out against the snow white landscape. A narrow strip of water called the Dardanelles connects the Marmara Denizi to the Aegean Sea in the upper left corner. Clouds cover many of the islands in the Aegean, though many of Greece's Dodecanese Islands are visible at image bottom left.
Text courtesy of NASA's MODIS Land Rapid Response Team.