Envirocast® On-Line Feature of the Week -- February 8, 2007

Snow Cover in the Twin Cities

The images in this Envirocast® Bulletin were taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard NASA's Aqua satellite on August 22, 2006 and February 6, 2007. They show the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in the Summer and Winter.

Snow Cover in the Twin Cities

The above MODIS images are from August 22, 2006 and February 6, 2007.  They show the Minneapolis-St. Paul area during the Summer and Winter.

Related Envirocast®: Seasons in Minnesota as Seen From Space

Environmental Impacts:

  • So far, 13 deaths are being blamed on the current cold snap in the northern Midwest and Northeast.

  • Before Tuesday, February 6, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area had spent 58 straight hours in below zero temperatures (Fahrenheit).

  • Minnesota police reported 290 crashes during rush-hour traffic on Tuesday, February 6.

  • Early Monday, February 5, Embarrass, Minnesota, had a temperature of negative 42 degrees Fahrenheit, Hallock, Minnesota had a temperature of negative 38, and International Falls, Minnesota had a temperature of negative 30.

Supplementary Material:

NASA's AQUA Satellite:

  • Aqua, Latin for water, is a NASA Earth Science satellite mission collecting about the Earth's water cycle, including evaporation from the oceans, water vapor in the atmosphere, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, sea ice, land ice, and snow cover on the land and ice. The Aqua spacecraft (formally known as EOS-PM) was successfully launched on May 4, 2002 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in Lompoc, California. t is flying at an altitude of 705 km (438 miles) observing the Earth, and the life expectancy is 6 years. [Aqua's Orbit], [Animation of MODIS Observing the Earth]

  • Aqua passes south to north over the equator in the afternoon, and thus it passes over us at the same local time every day, approximately 1:30 p.m.

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