Heavy rain and snow have swollen the rivers of Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, pushing many past flood stage during the first two weeks of January 2005, as evident in these satellite images from NASA.

The flooding occurred after several days of rain and snow fell on the already saturated ground of Midwest. Since the water could not be absorbed into the soaked ground, it ran off as flood water, scientists said.

The storms were followed by warm temperatures, which melted the snow and produced further flooding. By Jan. 17, some of the flooding had started to recede, but large tracts of land along the Ohio and Wabash Rivers were still under water.

Floods along the Ohio are not unusual, but the timing of this flood is, according to a NASA statement. The Ohio River and its tributaries often flood in the spring when winter’s snow melts and runs into regional rivers. Anyone shivering there now knows spring is far off.

-- SPACE.com Staff

Credit: MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC