File:Snow across the West Coast, United States (MODIS 2016-02-15).jpg

English: On February 7, 2016, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA�s Terra satellite captured this true-color image of snow across most of the western United States.

According to the National Weather Service�s regional snow analysis for that day, the Sierra Nevada region was 54 percent covered, with an average depth of 49 cm (19 in). The Great Basin region, which spans most of Nevada, was 79 percent covered, with an average depth of 24 cm (9 in); the Central Rockies region was 93 percent covered with an average depth of 53 cm (21 in). Most of the white in this image is snow, but some clouds and fog can also be seen, particularly over the Pacific Ocean and in a north-south band near the eastern edge of the image.

Overall, the extent of snow cover across the entire contiguous United States during January 2016 was the seventh-largest on record, according to NOAA�s State of the Climate report. A series of storms that brought precipitation to the U.S. West slightly improved the region�s long-term drought, according to NOAA.