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Snow Blankets Portions of Colorado and Wyoming

October 17, 2018
NOAA-20 imagery of the Rockies shows snow blanketing some areas on Oct. 16, 2018.

Clear skies allowed NOAA-20’s VIIRS instrument to capture this stunning view of snow blanketing areas from the Rockies to the Plains on Oct. 16, 2018. An early season snow storm moved through Colorado, Montana and Wyoming from Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018 to Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018.

In Big Horn County, Wyoming, snowfall totals ranged from 2 inches to more than a foot. The snowstorm led to major highway closures in Colorado and Wyoming, according to the Associated Press. Interstate-25 at the Colorado-Wyoming state line was closed for about 11 hours over the weekend as the storm moved through the region, creating hazardous driving conditions.

Although true-color images like this may appear to be photographs of Earth, they aren't. They are created by combining data from the three color channels on the VIIRS instrument sensitive to the red, green and blue (or RGB) wavelengths of light into one composite image. In addition, data from several other channels are often also included to cancel out or correct atmospheric interference that may blur parts of the image.