File:Flooding in the Ohio River Valley (MODIS 2021-03-08).jpg

English: Heavy rain pelted the Ohio River Valley as February gave way to March 2021, leading to swollen rivers and flooding. According to The Weather Channel, the rains, which started in late February, triggered flooding from Arkansas to Maryland, with nearly 400 reports of flooding received in just three days. The most dramatic flooding occurred in sections of Kentucky. The South Fork of the Kentucky River near Booneville, Kentucky, topped the previous record crest, which was set in January 1957. Bowling Green, Kentucky set a record high daily rainfall of 5.11 inches in 24 hours on February 28, smashing the previous record of 1.90 inches, set in 1903. It also set the highest rainfall ever in the month of February for that location, with the previous record of 3.75 set on February 23, 1975.

On March 4, 2021, the skies over the region had cleared but water levels were still rising, especially in the Ohio River. As the Ohio poured into the Mississippi River at Cairo, Kentucky, the high volume of water also swelled the Mississippi. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image of the region on that same day. In this type of image, which contrasts water from landcover, vegetation appears bright green and water appears deep blue. Open land appears tan and where vegetation is sparse or patchy (such as agricultural fields), the color may appear greenish-tan. From north and moving clockwise, the states seen in this image includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, northern Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. The swollen Ohio River is evident in the northeastern portion of the image. The Mississippi River flows southward from the northwest. The Ohio River flows south and then curves west to meet the Mississippi at Cairo.

While an individual image may give an impressive view of the flooding on a single day, even more information can be gained by comparing views from different days. Thanks to the NASA Worldview app, such comparisons are simple. To compare an Aqua MODIS image from February 3 (before the flooding) to this one acquired on March 4, click here