Satellite before and after

Missouri River floods 2019: Nebraska and Iowa

In mid-March 2019 an intense storm brought downpours and warm air onto snow and frozen ground, and rivers across the central United States rose to all-time records.

The Missouri and Platte rivers around Omaha, Nebraska and Iowa, United States · Mid-March 2019 · Flood · United States

Compare the imagery

Drag the divider, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Left of the divider is 20 Oct 2018, right is 20 Mar 2019, 151 days apart.

The interactive comparison needs JavaScript. Both images are shown below.

In this false-colour view water is dark blue to black, vegetation is bright green, bare ground is tan, freshly burned land is red-brown and cloud is cyan.

The two images

Satellite image of The Missouri and Platte rivers around Omaha, Nebraska and Iowa, United States on 20 Oct 2018, before the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
Before: Terra, 20 Oct 2018 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS
Satellite image of The Missouri and Platte rivers around Omaha, Nebraska and Iowa, United States on 20 Mar 2019, after the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
After: Terra, 20 Mar 2019 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS

What the images show

On 20 October 2018 the Missouri is a narrow river between farm fields. On 20 March 2019 the Missouri south of Omaha has become a band of water several kilometres wide, and the Platte to the west is out of its banks.

About the event

  • NASA Earth Observatory reported record flooding on the Platte, Missouri and Elkhorn rivers in Nebraska; one third of Offutt Air Force Base was inundated and 30 buildings were damaged.
  • Because the ground was still frozen, the rain and melting snow ran off into the rivers instead of soaking in.

Limits of this comparison

The before-image is from the previous October, not early March: every clear pass checked in early March 2019 showed snow or cloud, so the fields differ in colour for the season as well as the flood. Both images are from the same satellite and layer.

Each image is one satellite pass at about 250 metres a pixel. It shows where water or burned land is visible from space on that day; it does not measure damage, and cloud or haze can hide what is underneath.

Dates were chosen by checking the imagery on both satellites for several days either side and keeping the clearest pass. Both use the same layer, MODIS Corrected Reflectance, bands 7-2-1.

Sources

We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Comparison slider: leaflet-side-by-side (MIT licence). Case last updated 13 Sep 2026.

Questions

What does the satellite image of The Missouri and Platte rivers around Omaha, Nebraska and Iowa, United States show?

On 20 October 2018 the Missouri is a narrow river between farm fields. On 20 March 2019 the Missouri south of Omaha has become a band of water several kilometres wide, and the Platte to the west is out of its banks.

When were the two satellite images taken?

The before-image was taken by Terra, 20 Oct 2018 and the after-image by Terra, 20 Mar 2019, 151 days apart.

What can this before-and-after comparison not show?

The before-image is from the previous October, not early March: every clear pass checked in early March 2019 showed snow or cloud, so the fields differ in colour for the season as well as the flood. Both images are from the same satellite and layer. Each image is one satellite pass at about 250 metres a pixel. It shows where water or burned land is visible from space on that day; it does not measure damage, and cloud or haze can hide what is underneath.

Related