A powerful Alaskan storm swept down over California during the final week of October 2004, bringing record snow to the Sierra Nevada. The central Sierra Nevada received as much as 48 inches (1.2 meters) of snow in October, breaking the previous record of 36 inches (0.9 m), reported the Associated Press. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image, acquired by NASA�s Terra satellite on October 30, 2004, shows snow in the mountains around Los Angeles. The city forms a cement-colored grid extending into the center of the image from the left. In addition to dumping record snow in the mountains, the storm inundated the lower elevations with heavy rain, triggering flash floods across the state.
The high resolution image provided above has a resolution of 250 meters per pixel. It is available in additional resolutions from the MODIS Rapid Response Team.
NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
