How come there is never thunder or lightning during a snow storm?

Answer 1

It does happen.

But remember that most thunderstorms come from pockets of warm air meeting pockets of cold air. So it's probably a little harder to attain a thunderstorm when it's cold enough to snow.

I'll go check my facts and edit this msg if I'm wrong.

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Edit: Wikipedia has a whole article on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow

Thundersnow. I like the term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm

Answer 2

Oh but there is thunder and lightning in snow storms. but when that happens its called a blizzard I live in Michigan and have seen this quite a few times over the years

Answer 3

Don't you believe it! I saw a lightning flash in December 1999 during a severe snow storm

Answer 4

Although rare, there is occasional lightning during a snow storm, but it seems to depend on having a warm storm that probably has more energy (heat) associated with it.

Answer 5

There IS! I've experienced it many times. Once I saw an entire thunder/lighting snow storm that lasted a half an hour.

Answer 6

There can be.

Please don't ask me how it can happen but I have seen a couple instances where there has been thunder/lightning while it was snowing.

I recall that it is so rare that the weatherman was commenting that it was something he knew could happen from studying meteorology but had never seen before then.

Answer 7

Thunder is caused by cold air that bumps in to it causing static elc. that makes lighting lighting moves faster than the speed of sound making a sonic boom

snow comes from cold air no hot up there

Answer 8

I also heard thunder during a snowstorm in Baltimore. It's never happened to me in Ohio or Kansas where I expereienced many snowstorms though.

Answer 9

Warm air creates thunder and lightening

Answer 10

It's rare but I witnessed it around Christmas 1984 while living in Baltimore.