On December 31, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of a strong band of lake-effect snow moving across Lake Michigan. The snow was amplified by the emergence of a mesovortex, a rotational feature that moved south over the length of the lake. This meteorological feature dropped more than a foot of snow in parts of Indiana.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using MODIS data from LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.