Does thunder and lightening happen with a hurricane?

Question

Or is it just the winds, storm surge and rain?

Answer 1

A hurricane definitely has thunder and lightning. However, the lightning in most of the tropical cyclones are not nearly as frequent as thunderstorms that form away from the tropical cyclone environment. the lightning is most frequent in the thunderstorm areas of the outer spiral bands than towards the center. There is a exception to that which is that lightning can form and be nearly continuous in the eye wall in storms that reach the upper cat 4 and cat 5 strength. I remember reading a study done specifically on lightning in the eye wall. I believe the study used one of the high altitude hurricane research aircraft to study Hurricane Emily in 2005 and were surprised to find electrical fields as strong as a Midwest thunderstorm in the eye wall when it was near its maximum intensity. The study was over before Katrina and Rita but land based detection systems also noted unusually high lightning rates before those two made landfall as well.

Answer 2

Ignore the other answers. Hurricanes can have thunder and lightning during rapid development, but once a hurricane is strengthening at a slower pace, there isn't the updrafts required for lightning. The outer bands of hurricanes have thunderstorm cells and squalls with thunder and lightning in most hurricanes. Usually eyewalls and the central dense overcast lack lightning.

Answer 3

No it does not thunder or lightning due to the humidity. In cold weather, the air is not humid, thus not allowing an electric current to travel through the cloud. So really, it's the temperature. It's not warm enough.
Just winds and storm surge..and rain.

Answer 4

Rarely, hurricanes start out as a group of thunderstorms that start rotating around a common center. As they develop further the rotation is not conducive to cause lightning.

Answer 5

I've been through four hurricanes and have never heard thunder or seen lightning. Have seen tornadoes, though.