A wave of cold weather, heavy rain, and snow crippled much of Pakistan and Afghanistan on January 1 and 2, 2005, as floods and ice combined to close roads and hinder travel. The storm has claimed at least ten lives in Pakistan, according to local news reports. After the storm passed, the high mountains of northern Pakistan and most of Afghanistan were covered in a blanket of snow. Even the Chagai Hills of southwestern Pakistan are coated with snow in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image, acquired by NASA’s Terra satellite on January 3, 2005. As in many regions of the world, snowfall in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan is crucial in recharging the region’s water supply, which is fed by melting snow.
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NASA image courtesy the MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. The image is available in additional resolutions.
