Can it thunder while it is snowing?

Question

I'm sure thunder has something to do with heat, but I don't know.

Answer 1

Yes, they actually call it thunder snow.

Answer 2

yes

The phenomenon you're asking about is called "thunder snow".

Let's first talk about how lightning occurs. Lightning occurs when there is a buildup of electrical charge in a cloud. More accurately, the lower portions of a cloud become negatively charged, while the upper regions become positively charged. Lightning happens when the charge separation becomes large enough so that a huge spark occurs between the negatively and positively charged regions of the cloud, or from cloud to cloud, or from the cloud to ground.

How and why this charge separation in a cloud happens is not well understood, but what is known is that the violent "boiling" motion of air in a towering thunderstorm cloud (called a "cumulonimbus" cloud) is ideal for letting this happen. During the spring and summer, conditions in the atmosphere allow big thunderstorm clouds to grow. That is, warm, moist air near the ground rises into cool, dry air aloft. This is called convection, which is a fancy way of saying "warm air rises". The tops of thunderclouds can be many tens of thousands of feet high.

In the winter, the air near the ground is usually not warm or wet enough to allow formation of these very tall towers of cloud. Because of this, there's not enough convective motion to create the charge separation that leads to lightning.

One place to find out more is this compendium of USA Today "Ask Jack" weather questions and answers. Look for a description of "thunder snow" and follow the link to a graphic explaining how lake effect snow can create conditions suitable for thunder snow.

Answer 3

It's rare, but it can and does happen. The reason that it is so rare is that the snow that falls carries the static charge from the clouds to the earth. This static charge is what generates the lightning and thunder. Also, cumulonimbus clouds are rare in the winter because of the lack of heating that generates the thermals.

Answer 4

Yes it can thunder while snowing, it can also lightning. A few years ago we had a storm that had thunder & lightning in it for almost an hour.... it was very cool.

Answer 5

Thunderstorms, lightning and severe weather can and do occur any time of the year at almost any location on earth. There are three scenarios where lightning can be observed during the winter season - in 'normal thunderstorms, in thundersnow and at high-elevations.
Thundersnow
Strong winter snowstorms and blizzards commonly produce lightning strikes, a phenomenon referred to as 'thundersnow'. Lightning and thunder can occur with any type of winter precipitation - including snow, sleet ('thundersleet') and freezing rain. Thundersnow is a much more rare event, requiring a very intense convective cell whose precipitation is falling in frozen form. Such intensity can be achieved in strong low pressure systems that develop during the winter months.

Lake-effect snow on the shores of the Great Lakes is a common producer of thundersnow. Lake-effect thundersnow is common in early-season events (November through December), when the first cold air masses begin passing over the still-warm lake waters, maximizing instability.

Winter thunderstorms
Normal 'garden variety' thunderstorms (just like the ones in spring and summer) are very common during the winter months in the United States, particularly in the southern half of the country east of the Rockies. The Gulf of Mexico remains a source of warm, moist air year-round. This warmth and moisture occasionally makes its way northward into the USA during the winter, allowing for 'normal' thunderstorm conditions to develop as far north as the warm air can make it. Every once in a while, conditions for severe thunderstorms and even tornadoes are possible. In fact, just like the Great Plains does in the spring, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia actually have their own peak tornado season - from December to January! Violent storms and tornadoes are not unusual events the southern USA during winter.

A good case study on the subject is the state of West Virginia, no stranger to wintertime lightning with thunderstorms observed at least once between November and February nearly every year. The lightning strike in the photo at right was captured during a strong thunderstorm near Huntington in February of 2003 (note the leafless trees), while snow was still on the ground in some locations. Possibly the most infamous wintertime lightning event in the Mountain State was the Tallmansville/Sago storm of January 2, 2006, in which a lightning strike caused an underground mine explosion which resulted in the death of 12 coal miners.

High-elevation thunderstorms
Thunderstorms are common among the snowy peaks of very high mountain ranges (such as the Himalayas and the Alps) during strong storms. High-elevation thunderstorms with frozen precipitation can occur at any time of the year at the world's highest ridges, and are a well-known threat to climbers.

Answer 6

It doesn't have much to do with heat - you can have thunder and lightning in any type of weather that supports electrical charges. I personally have seen it happen in a snowstorm before.

Answer 7

Of course, if the conditions are right and enough instability is in the air, thunder can develop anytime of year, only differnce is the temperature profile.

Answer 8

Yes.....absolutely. It's happened here already this year a couple of times. It's way kewl!

Answer 9

Yes, it sure can!
It has nothing to do with heat, I am sure.

Answer 10

Yes and it happens quite often.