On December 31, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of a strong band of lake-effect snow moving across Lake Michigan.

The snow was amplified by the emergence of a mesoscale vortex, a rotational feature that moved south over the length of the lake. This meteorological feature dropped more than a foot of snow in parts of Indiana.

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