Icy Hudson River – NASA

During a period of freezing weather in late January 2026, ice choked the Hudson River along Manhattan’s West Shore. The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image of the winter landscape around noon on January 28. This image uses representational colors to distinguish ice (light blue) from open water and snow. Vegetation appears red.

Much of the ice in the image was likely floating there from further upstream, where tidal currents are weaker and salinity is lower. These conditions allow the water to freeze earlier and at higher temperatures than the faster-flowing brackish water near the river mouth, shown here.

Learn about the effects of river ice and how scientists track rivers.

Text credit: Lindsey Doermann

Image credit: Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the US Geological Survey