The Daily Croissant

by James Galletto

"This snowy owl was captured during a snowstorm. Unlike most owls, which are nocturnal, snowy owls are diurnal—they hunt and are active both day and night."

Simon Beck's Snow Art 

"This page focusses on the artworks I create by walking in the snow wearing raquettes (snowshoes). My personal face book website... "

"A record-breaking snowstorm struck Colorado in early February 2012, closing an interstate highway, grounding flights, and dropping more than a foot of snow on the Denver area. After moving out of northeastern Colorado, the storm left heavy snow across Nebraska. 

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on February 5, after skies had largely cleared over the region. Snow and mountain peaks create a mottled appearance in western Colorado. Elsewhere, the snow cover forms a wide, uneven track over Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska.

This snowfall did not break all-time records in Colorado, but it did break records for the month of February. The storm deposited 15.9 inches (40.4 centimeters) in Denver and 22.7 inches (57.7 centimeters) in Boulder. The National Weather Service also reported up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow west of Omaha, Nebraska.

NWS meteorologists explained that northeastern Colorado generally experiences storms of this magnitude in March or April. This February storm showed some of the same characteristics of powerful spring storms, as a weather front from the Pacific Northwest converged with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico."

By July in a typical year, the snow that covers the slopes of the Rocky Mountains has given way to grasses and wildflowers, leaving only the peaks capped in white. But 2011 has not been a typical year. As this image of the Uinta Mountains in northeast Utah shows, winter’s snow is lingering into summer. On June 26, the snowpack on the southern face of the range was 849 percent above average. The northern face had 892 percent more snow than average.

The image was taken by the Landsat 5 satellite on July 15, 2011.

Imaged at the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland
Summary Author: Jim Foster

"The snow crystal stereo pair featured above was imaged using a Low Temperature Scanning Electron Microscope (LT-SEM). This crystal is an example of a stellar snow crystal with plates at the end. It was imaged not long after falling to the surface. To view the pair stereoscopically, cross your eyes and relax your vision until there are three images, then focus on the center image. Be patient and good luck  !"