Why do we get thunder when it rains, but not when it snows? I have never heard thunder during a snowstorm.?

Answer 1

It is possible to get thunder while it snows. The snowstorm that hit Buffalo NY in October of last year had a lot of thunder.

When the air rapidly heats up, it causes it to expand and contract violently. Thunder is the sound produced from this expanding and contracting. Even if it's snowing out, if there is a rapid warming in the atmosphere, you might just hear some thunder as well.

And in response to the whole lightning won't happen during snow because rain is what makes static electricity... You are incorrect. First of all, snow is frozen up water particles, so they are composed of the same element. Also, rain does not create lightnings electrical charge. Sometimes it lightnings when it isn't even raining!
It is very possible to see lighting during a snow storm. Lightning can occur in three ways. Within clouds, between clouds, and cloud to ground. Over 80% of lightning discharges happen within clouds or between clouds. The lightning you see during a winter storm is more than likely one of those two.

Answer 2

It is possible to have thunder with snow. The weather community affectionately calls it Thundersnow and encodes it as TSSN in surface based observations. It is rare though. A lot of it has to do with the temperature differences in the atmosphere which in turn impacts the stability of the atmosphere. In the spring and fall months when you normally see thunderstorms you'll find warm/hot surface temps being intruded by cooler/cold air moving down from the north. The bigger the temperature difference is the stronger the storms are generally. And the more lightning you see and thunder you hear. But, it's rare that it is ever cold enough to see snow during those times. We actually just had thundersnow here in Omaha a couple of nights ago. We've had a very cold winter, but through the weekend we warmed up into the 40s. Then a nice strong cold front pushed in from Canada and we got blasted. 9-12inches of snow, 50mph winds, and yes even some thunderstorms when the snow first started. A lot of it has to do with the fact that you generally see more snowfall accumulation on the more stable side of the front coming front stratus or stratocumulus clouds over a long duration. But, heavier snowfall from the leading unstable side of the front for short durations of time.

Are you thoroughly confused yet?

Answer 3

The first guy says the build up of energy is halted by snow, this is untrue there is still debate of what actually causes lightning at its root, but it's widely accepted lightning is caused by energy from the sun traveling via solar winds and is then built up in earth's atmosphere. Snow would not halt this process in any way.

Second guy cited static electricity is wrong as well as the person saying thunder is created by warm and cold air clashing. If lightning was unable to form in cold air then it would never form. I'll explain.

Rain drops from very high above us and the higher up you go in the atmosphere the colder it is. Rain actually starts off as snow and/or ice and then warms up and melts during its descent.

In summation, lightning can form during snowstorms and I've seen it myself. Thunder follows lightning obviously, the reason you might have never heard/saw lightning is because snow limits visibility and can absorb sound in great masses. If you've never been in a severe blizzard then you've probably just never been in a bad enough snow storm that lightning would accompany it.

Answer 4

Funny thing. We had our first thunderstorm last night and thundersnow this morning in Detroit.

WE had Thudersnow during a snowstorm, a thunder snow squall off the lake, and thundersleet before. Most of our instability for thunder though is courtesyof lake effect and daytime instability(sort of like a summertime thunderstorm).

Answer 5

if fact thundersnow really does occurr, but it is rare.
it happens when theres a temperature gradient in the lower part of the atmosphere, much like an ordinary t'storm. but since t'storms feed off of warm moist air, the cold dry air of winter makes it harder for t'storms to develop. so when thundersnow storms do develop it means a lot of energy was involved, so quite a bit of noise is produce. areas where thundersnow is more common are the Great Lakes region, especially wisconsion, michigan, and new york which are next to long lakes. a long lake means that more moisture is picked up, which provides more energy for thundersnow. also if you go to Japan or mt. everest during a blizzard you may hear some thunder with that snow.

Answer 6

I am not sure where you live but I have experienced a few times thunder and lightning during a blizzard. The most recent one was only about a couple months ago. We were coming back from town and saw a bright blue flash and at first wasn't sure what it was because it was so brilliant. The ones we experienced before were not like that. Once we got closer to the area it came from it was happening all around us. It was cool, but a little freaky.

Answer 7

It's rarer, because humidity increases the probability of lightning, but snow thunderstorms do happen. It happened in Toronto on Thursday. The meteorologists' explanation was that the negatively charged snow flakes dropped down faster than the positively charged ones. A build-up of charge eventually resulted in lightning.

Answer 8

Because the snow stops the build up of electrical energy that causes the thunder.

Answer 9

It thundered just yesterday in the center of the United States. I heard it a couple of times. I live in northern NY.

Answer 10

You can have thunder during a snow storm. I heard it several times.