December 14, 2022 - Massive Winter Storm Rolls Across the United States

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A massive, major winter storm was sweeping across the United States on
December 12, 2022, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this
true-color image. At the time the image was acquired, the most active
line of the storm stretched from the southern tip of the U.S. state of
Texas northward to Manitoba, Canada.

Almost all of the area under heavy cloud cover were experiencing active
winter weather. Heavy snowfall and strong winds were pummeling the
Northern Plains and Midwest, with some areas reporting blizzard
conditions and winds up to 60 mph. Ice and intense snowfall shut down
portions of several interstates for hours. Further south, destructive
tornadoes popped up across Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, while
Arkansas, and Mississippi residents were under tornado watches and
warnings. According to the Washington Post, as of December 13, about 10
million people from the Rockies to the northern Great Lakes were under
some kind of winter weather alert.

Not only is active weather stretching from north to south across the
entire United States, it will also roll across the country from west to
east. The first volleys of this system began to affect the U.S. West
Coast on December 9, according to the National Weather Service. By
December 11, parts of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains had
accumulated more than five feet of fresh snowfall. The Utah Avalanche
Center noted increasing risks in the backcountry of the Wasatch Ranges,
with all locations at either “Considerable” or “High” risk.

The system will continue to roll across the United States, reaching
parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on December 14. While northerly
locations can expect heavy snow and wind, the National Weather Service
advises that the storm will bring freezing rain and sleet along with
gusting wind to parts of Virginia and Maryland, which is likely to
trigger power outages and downed trees. Ice accumulation of up to 0.5
inches (1.3 cm) is expected in Oakland, a mountain town in western
Maryland, with up to one-tenth of an inch (0.25 cm) in Baltimore,
Maryland.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/12/2022
Resolutions: 1km (3.4 MB),
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-12-14

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