thundersnow

[Dennis Dennison]

I remember once there was a really heavy snowstorm in my area (Toledo,Oh at the time) I had my window open (Not looking thru glass or screen) and was looking at the heavy snowfall, I was looking because I was hearing thunder during the snow. I then saw a bolt of inter cloud lightning followed immedeatly and in sequence red, green, blue bolts of the same shape but just slightly different locations from the main bolt-like shadow bolts - anyone?

 

[Joel Wright]

Yeah thundersnow can be quite an interesting occurence. The most interesting aspect is the intense rate of snowfall that usually accompanies it. I think the light reflects and bends off of the ice crystals impacting the way the illumination looks at ground level. Snowflakes of many different sizes (and types) can make for a wide range of "effects".

We experienced thundersnow once last winter.

 

[Dann Cianca]

We had a thundersnow event on the south end of Denver at the beginning of February this year. I didn't see one bolt of lightning, but it was frequent and close. The entire sky lit up, the light obviously being refracted by the snow. The thunder took on a bizarre sound as well (anyone experience that?).

To top it off, we had dime to nickel sized graupel falling. There is nothing like the sound of giant graupel falling into six inches of snow on the ground. What an amazing night.

 

[George Kourounis]

Living in Toronto, so close to the Great Lakes snowsquall machine, I get to experience thundersnow about once a year. It usually occurs during the heaviest lake effect bands north of the city but due to the decreased visibility, I've never actually seen the bolt, just the flash.

The part I find interesting is the difference in the sound of the thunder due to the acoustic dampening effects of the snow. The thunder has a less bright tonal quality to it since the higher frequency content tends to get absorbed more easily.

George Kourounis
www.stormchaser.ca

 

[Dann Cianca]

Living in Toronto, so close to the Great Lakes snowsquall machine, I get to experience thundersnow about once a year. It usually occurs during the heaviest lake effect bands north of the city but due to the decreased visibility, I've never actually seen the bolt, just the flash.

The part I find interesting is the difference in the sound of the thunder due to the acoustic dampening effects of the snow. The thunder has a less bright tonal quality to it since the higher frequency content tends to get absorbed more easily.

George Kourounis
www.stormchaser.ca

Wow, George ... we were definitely thinking on the same wavelength!

 

[Sean Poling]

Speaking of thundersnow...
it looks as if Buffalo, NY is being hit right now. (9:45 p.m. EST)

A real heavy band of precip. is staying just in front of the occlusion on this MLC low.

 

[jeremy wilson]

Back in Feb. 2003 here in southern Oklahoma, I was picking up some friends kids from school because of the heavy snow when a CG pounded the ground 100 yards away. Man I wish I had that one on film. The snowflakes that accompanied the bolt were huge! Some as big as baseballs you could hear smack the pavement. Never seen anything like it before. We got 11 inches in four or five hours, a monumental amount for us.

 

[Dann Cianca]

Back in Feb. 2003 here in southern Oklahoma, I was picking up some friends kids from school because of the heavy snow when a CG pounded the ground 100 yards away. Man I wish I had that one on film. The snowflakes that accompanied the bolt were huge! Some as big as baseballs you could hear smack the pavement. Never seen anything like it before. We got 11 inches in four or five hours, a monumental amount for us.

I've only experienced thundersnow a couple times, but in all cases, there was heavy, dendritic snowfall. I wonder if the large flake-size had something to do with the charge distribution. Any thoughts?