Terra MODIS true color image of North Carolina, 28 February 2004.
An unusual storm blanketed North Carolina with record snowfall on February 26 and 27, 2004, stranding travelers and closing schools and businesses. As much as 1.5 feet (0.45 meters) of snow fell in parts of the state. It also crossed into parts of southwestern Virginia and northern South Carolina. By February 28, the clouds had cleared, giving the Terra MODIS instrument this view of the eastern seaboard.
At the top of the image, snow covers much of Pennsylvania and highlights the northern Appalachian Range. Though Ohio remains mostly snow free, ice clogs its shores in Lake Erie, which glows with deep blue-green colors. The northern patch of snow gives out in the mountains of West Virginia. The Appalachians continue meandering to the south and west, looking like a collection of thin brown and tan ribbons. Offshore, a cloudy blue and green band of turbid water was probably caused by high winds in the last week of February.
Text and image courtesy of NASA's MODIS Land Rapid Response Team.