Cloud Streets

This highly detailed photo was taken by a special instrument on board NASA’s Aqua Satellite on January 3d. What you see here are “cloud streets,” produced by the same process that produces lake effect clouds in the cold weather season. As arctic air moves over the relatively warmer waters of the Atlantic, moisture rises into the cold air and condenses. On some occasions, when these clouds develop sufficiently, a northerly or northeasterly wind can produce “Ocean Effect Snow, “ most commonly across Cape Cod.