Wacky Weather: Seeing Snow From Space

The Nor'easter that struck just a week after Hurricane Sandy slammed the east coast left a mark that you could see from space. Visible satellites don't always show just clouds, they can also show significant snow fall like in the picture shown below. This picture was taken on November 9th.

The white shown in New Jersey, Long Island and parts of Connecticut is snow on the ground.

So why does the happen you ask? Well, this picture was taken by a visible satellite. A visible satellite shows areas of white that reflect a large portion of the suns radiation. Because clouds and snow reflect a good majority of the sun's radiation they both show up on the visible satellite.

Hope this Brightens your Wednesday!

Photo From: 
Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC