May 25, 2022 - Snow in Lethoso

Snow in Lethoso
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A winter-like storm swept across parts of South Africa and Lesotho from
May 19-23, 2022, bringing cold temperatures, rain, and even early snow
to the highlands. As the skies cleared on May 23, the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra
satellite acquired a true-color image of a blanket of bright white snow
in the highlands of Lesotho, including the Drakensburg Mountains along
the southeastern border with South Africa, and the Maluti Mountains in
the interior of Lesotho.

According to a report by South Africa Today, snow fell at the Afriski
Holiday resort, at Sani Pass, and the Letseng Mine in Lesotho. Other
media reported that the Sani Pass was closed for a time during the
worst of the snowfall. The Sani Pass is a steep, difficult road that
passes between Underberg, in the west of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
and Mokhotlong, in eastern Lesotho. The Pass is often closed in poor
weather, and travel even in the best weather requires 4x4 vehicles.
Winter begins on June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere and ends on
September 23, and often brings heavy and long-lasting snow, especially
to the mountains of Lesotho. Snow in May is early and unusual but does
occasionally occur.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 5/23/2022
Resolutions: 1km (225.7 KB), 500m (568.1 KB), 250m (365.1
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-05-25

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