The two satellite pictures below were taken on April 9 and April 10, 2003, left to right. There are actually no clouds in eather picture. They were two completely clear days. The picture on the left shows snow on the ground over extreme southern Minnesota and most of Iowa. On April 9, snow depth was generally 6-12 inches in many areas.

In the picture on the right, notice how much snow melted in one day. That goes to show how strong the April sun is and how fast it will burn up the snow.