A bitterly-cold Arctic air mass poured over eastern Canada and New England in mid-November 2019, with temperatures dipping to record lows in some places. The snow and frigid temperatures may have burdened some people with delays in road and air travel, the view from space was serenely beautiful.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image on the morning of November 13, 2019.

Clouds and snow cover both eastern Canada and New England, with the heaviest snow seen along the St. Lawrence River, New York state’s Finger Lakes, and parts of Maine. The St. Lawrence River forms the boundary between Canada and the United States along part of the state of New York before it turns northward to course through the province of Quebec to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The forests of the Adirondack Mountains appear darker in color than the surrounding, flatter land—not surprising as snow clings to the uneven branches of the trees, creating an uneven coating of snow compared to flat agricultural fields. Lake Champlain straddles New York and Vermont and, in the far north, the border between the United States and Canada cross the lake. The blue waters show no evidence of ice cover – an indication that the brutal temperatures have not been present very long. The Canadian province of New Brunswick of sits northwest of the U.S. state of Maine and can be seen in the upper right corner of the image.

Image Facts

Satellite: Aqua

Date Acquired: 11/13/2019

Resolutions: , ,

Bands Used: 1,4,3

Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC