Grand (Canyon) Snowfall

This satellite image from Nov. 23 shows a blanket of snow across the burnt-orange rock of the Colorado Plateau, making even more stark the rugged topography of the Grand Canyon.

The image is of the eastern half of the canyon, starting with the section known as Marble Canyon at upper right, just downstream of Lake Powell. The upper reaches of Marble Canyon are rimmed on the west by the Vermillion Cliffs, and on the east by the Kaibito Plateau.

Note the lack of snow down in the canyon itself, owing to its lower elevation.

A salmon-colored line running away from Marble Canyon across the plateau is Echo Cliffs. The snow highlights the widening of Marble Canyon as the Colorado River cuts southwestward. Just before the river makes a sharp bend to the west, the big river is joined by the Little Colorado, which appears as a tightly zigzagged line slicing through the Painted Desert, at bottom right.

Farther west, a north-to-south swath of snow is broken by the widening canyon. A narrow margin of deep, olive green on the western perimeters of the snow-covered areas reveals that this area is covered by the Kaibab National Forest. West of the National Forest, two canyons join the Grand Canyon: Kanab Creek from the north and Cataract Creek from the south.

The Colorado Plateau extends over parts of the "Four Corners" states: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona (pictured here), and Utah. Different sections of the plateau have names from numerous different languages--Native American, Spanish, English--evidence of the complex cultural history of the region. At image left, a second swath of snow spans the Uinkaret Plateau (north) and the Coconino Plateau (south).

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: NASA/ Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory/ MODIS Rapid Response team