Snow in Time for the Solstice

Credit: SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE, Posted on: Thursday, 23 December 2004, 07:48 CST Download full size image

In mid-December, the weather in eastern North America cooperated with the calendar, and a wintry blast from the Arctic delivered freezing cold air, blustery winds, and snow just in time for the Winter Solstice on December 21—the Northern Hemisphere’s longest night of the year and the official start of winter. This image was captured by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) on December 20, 2004, the day after an Arctic storm dove down into the United States, bringing snow to New England (upper right of top image); the coastal mid-Atlantic, including Washington, D.C.; and the southern Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. Over the Atlantic Ocean (image right), the fierce Arctic winds were raking the clouds into rows, like a gardener getting ready to plant the seeds of winter.

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