Snow and Lightning

[Stephen Lamontagne]

We had quite a big snow storm yesterday, dumped 18 inches at my house. The exciting thing was it was Lightning during the snow storm, I can't say i've ever seen that before here in Maine, It was quite amazing I wish i could have got it on video. How rare is lightning during a snow storm?

 

[rdale]

Not "frequent" but not rare either, in major snow events there is enough instability for convection which dramatically increases your snowfall rates.

 

[Angie Norris]

Thundersnow absolutely rocks
I don't know what the statistics are, but I've seen it a few times...once back in east TN during the 1993 Superstorm, and then a few times here in OK, but usually with sleet. Here's a good link that explains the whys and hows www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/334/

 

[Jeff Richardson]

Lightning and thunder are icing on the cake during a snow event. I can remember several occasions over the years when we've had lightning during a snowstorm here in OK. Some of the dynamics of a few regional winter weather events have been pretty impressive. Lightning can also occur during sand/dust storms and has even been seen in the clouds resulting from volcanic eruptions.

 

[Richard Dickson]

I was a lineman for an electric utility in southcentral Kansas for twentyone years before moving to Arizona. (Got tired of the blizzards.) Obviously, we worked outdoors in all of the bad weather. I remember seeing lightning during a snowstorm three times in all those twentyone years. The first time I saw it, it really startled me as I thought it was some of our power lines getting together and arcing. It took several shots before I convinced myself that it was really lightning. It is truly a wonderous sight to see during a very heavy snowfall as the beautiful blue light is difused by the snowflakes and makes it a little hard to tell exactly where it was until the thunder sounds off. Even then, the sound is scattered some. Funny how certain memories stand out like it happened yesterday.

 

[mikegeukes]

A Climatology of Thundersnow Events over the Contiguous United States
Patrick S. Market, Chris E. Halcomb, and Rebecca L. Ebert

 

[Bruce M. Sumner]

I was tryng to recall the events that occured several years ago when Tulsa had a large snowstorm. It seems I remember that a severe thunderstorm warning was issued just minutes prior to the snowstorm, and that we had quite a bit of lightning associated with the beginning of the snow.

Definitely not a sight you see everyday!!

 

[Stephen Lamontagne]

It was quite a treat, the snow dampened the sound of the thunder, gave it a very drowned out booming sound. The strobe effect the lightning gave to the snow was awesome to say the least, Since it was dark outside it really was spectacular to see.

 

[Howard Robinson]

I was reading something about the amount of lighting in a thundersnow and blizzards. Does anyone know anything about that?

 

[rdale]

Mike posted the link just a little bit above.

 

[Gerrit Gulden]

If anyone thinks of it, try to record some thundersnow. I would love to see what it looks like. I had a very small thundersnow event here but only saw one flash and the snow wasnt at all heavy. Its a goal to capture thundersnow and I am waiting for it to happen here in Idaho. Would be truly awesome.

-gerrit

 

[jeremy wilson]

Back in 2003 here in southern Oklahoma we got a record foot of snow in about 6 hours. During the height of the storm cg's pounded the ground right in front of my house. Every time the cg's would pick up the snowflakes would increase in size dramaticly and accumulate quickly. One of the coolest things I have ever seen!

 

[Stephen Levine]

I witnessed thundersnow a few times when living in the Boston MA area during the 1980's.
This occurred mostly during coastal storms, either when rain was transitioning to snow, or when the low nearby was intensifying.
I believe that the effect of warmer ocean air mixing with arctic air within the context of the deepening low is what caused the thundersnow in most occasions.
The best I experienced occured twice: once in Dec. 1980 around midnight during a pause in a snowstorm (eerie blue ripples across the sky, very soft thunder) and in the late afternoon during the early April blizzard of 1982, when there was frequent thunder, but I couldn't see any lightning due to the less than one block visibility and it being twilight darkness.
Also witnessed thundersnow once in Pittsburgh as a high schooler, when an arctic front moved in and turned everything greenish along with whiteout snow (unfortunately I was trapped in class and couldn't watch) as well as once in Ohio when squalls rolled through in conjunction with an arctic front.

 

[Melanie Kern-Favilla]

This is one of my favorite Weather Channel moments of all time. I happened to have been watching live when it happened. Still makes me laugh. And Cantore is still cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9M95wId-8U&feature=PlayList&p=17A273BE579324AA&playnext=1&index=13

 

[B. Kendrick]

Here in the panhandle a few years ago there have been a few cases of thundersnow. One event of thundersnow i clearly remember is on by brothers birthday in 1994.