An unusual storm blanketed North Carolina with record snowfall on February 26 and 27, 2004, stranding travelers and closing schools and businesses. As much as 1.5 feet (0.45 meters) of snow fell in parts of the state. By February 28, the clouds had cleared, giving the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite this view of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Offshore, a cloudy blue and green band of turbid water was probably caused by high winds in the last week of February.

The high resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC