Snowcover on Satellite

Snowcover from yesterday's storm can be seen on the visible satellite maps today. Below is a high-resolution image from NASA showing the snow on the ground in the Northern Plains and Midwest.

Visible satellite images, one of several types of satellite images, are simply a camera photo of the earth taken by satellites rotating with the earth several miles up. Since they are a camera photo, visible satellite images are dark at night; you can see the nation light up from east to west in the morning, opposite in the evening. Almost all of the white areas that you see on today's satellite are areas where snow is on the ground... though if you're interested, the areas encircled red in this image are actually clouds.

It's sometimes hard to tell the difference between snow and clouds in a static image -- but a loop shows the clouds moving while the snow stays still. Also be careful to not mistake fog for snow -- fog won't move in a visible satellite loop, but it quickly decreases in areal coverage during the morning as the sun gets more intense (on a warm day, snow will do that too but generally not as quick).

Check out some visible satellite loops from this morning (warning: large downloads)...

Northern Plains | Dakotas | Midwest

or take a look at live images by accessing the AccuWeather.com Visible Satellite Page (PREMIUM | PRO). Click to zoom.