A powerful blizzard began sweeping over Iran on February 3, 2014, bringing extreme cold and deep snow to much of the northern part of the country. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this view of the snow on February 6. Snow blanketed a broad swath of the country, from the border with Iraq to the Caspian Sea. According to the BBC, an official in the northern province of Mazandaran said the snowfall was the the worst to hit the area in 50 years, with up to two meters (more than six feet) of snow falling in some places. The snow left nearly 500,000 people without electricity and gas, according to the Tehran Times.

• References

• Associated Press, via The Washington Post (2014, February 4) Iran troops join rescue effort in snow-hit north. Accessed February 11, 2014.
• BBC (2014, February 5) Iran snow cuts power to nearly 500,000 homes. Accessed February 11, 2014.
• Relief Web (2014, February 14) IRCS relief and rescue for blizzard in Mazandaran. Accessed February 11, 2014.
• Tehran Times (2014, February 14) Iran takes emergency measures to tackle unprecedented snowfall. Accessed February 11, 2014.

NASA image courtesy LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Adam Voiland.

Instrument(s): 

Terra - MODIS