Satellite Images Show Dueling Snowstorms in the US and UK

By Nancy Atkinson - December 10, 2010 at 1:56 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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OK, let's duke it out. Who had it worse this past week as far as wintery weather: the entire United Kingdom, or the middle part of the United States? We'll the the satellite images tell story.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite acquired the image above on December 7, two days after the weekend snow storm. A swath of white defines the path of the storm from Minnesota to Kentucky in the image. Weather predictions look there is more on the way this weekend.

And for the UK:

[caption id="attachment_81622" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="The UK covered in snow, as seen on Dec. 8, 2010. Credit: NASA's Aqua satellite. "]

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Snow and clouds present an almost uniform white to this satellite image. Snow extends from Northern Ireland southward past Dublin, and from Scotland southward into England. Snow cover stops short of London; the white expanses in that area are clouds. Snow and clouds present an almost uniform white to the satellite sensor, but clouds can be distinguished from the underlying snow by their billowy shapes and indistinct margins.

The United Kingdom Met Office forecast that the cold weather would gradually loosen its grip on the region. For December 9 and 10, 2010, the Met Office forecast rain, but also warned of widespread icy roads.

Source:

NASA Earth Observatory

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com