File:Southcentral Russia (MODIS 2015-06-15).jpg

English: The might Ob River, which runs through the heart of central Russia, was overflowing its banks in early June, 2015. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASAS�s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on June 5, 2015.

The world�s seventh largest river, the Ob begins in the Altai Mountains, then meanders towards the north and west for about 3,360 mi (5,410 km) to the Kara Sea, a part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. In late May through June each year, the water level of the Ob rises due primarily to the melting of the snowpack accumulated over winter in the Altai Mountains combined with spring rains. Although part of Russia had a dry winter followed by a warm spring, the Altai Mountain region experienced heavy snowfall and a wet spring � the ingredients for late spring floods.

According to the Humanitarian Early Warning System (HEWS), on June 2, 2015 the Main Emergency Management for the Novosibirsk region called a state of emergency due to large scale flooding, stating that such high water has not been seen in the vicinity of Novosibirsk in the last 46 years. Many Russians have garden plots and summer homes (dachas) in the floodplain of the Ob, and it is these enterprises and homes, more than the cities, that face the worst risk from these floods. It was reported that in the Tomsk region, water had flooded 286 houses in 14 villages, along with five roads in three districts of the region.

By June 12, the flooding had extended well down river, with the Siberian Times reporting that a state of emergency had been declared in Nizhnevartovsk, which was experiencing the worst flood in its history.

In this image, the floodplain of the Ob can be seen as a broad green band, and the meanders of the river itself appear a silt-laden muddy tan. Three major tributaries, the Chulym River (eastern-most river) and the Ket River, and Tym River both on the north side of the Ob, are also prominent, and appear to be overflowing their banks as do several minor tributaries. In the south the milky waters of the Ob flow into the Novosibirsk Reservoir. Just north of that reservoir, a cluster of gray pixels marks the city of Novosibirsk.