A large squall producing heavy snow and frequent lightning over Buffalo, NY. Lake effect thundersnow occurs after a cold front or shortwave aloft passes over a body of water. This steepens the thermal lapse rates between the lake temperature and the temperatures aloft.

Jun 7, 2024 · Thunder has accompanied some of the most memorable snow storms of the last several years. A Christmas Eve snowstorm that hit parts of the Middle Atlantic and New England in 1966 was accompanied by so much lightning and thunder that weather historian David Ludlum referred to it as the “Donner and Blitzen Snowstorm.”

Jan 3, 2022 · Thundersnow is a rare phenomenon, but it can occur anywhere heavy snow is falling. Most people associate thunder and lightning with thunderstorms, but you shouldn't be surprised if you hear a rumble or two coming from the sky during heavy snow. FOX Weather meteorologist Marissa Lautenbacher says while thundersnow is rare, it can happen.

Jan 29, 2025 · It’s possible for dozens, or even hundreds, of lightning strikes to accompany a particularly strong snow squall snaking off the Great Lakes. A powerful winter storm can also produce the dynamics ...

Jan 6, 2023 · Experts say that thundersnow—a phenomenon when thunder and lightning occur during a snowstorm—tends to bring heavier accumulations. Until recent decades, we didn’t know if the...

Mar 23, 2016 · Thundersnow is a snowstorm event in which thunder and lightning occur. An example is the classic 2011 thundersnow in Chicago that surprised Jim Cantore. Thunderstorms accompanied by snow are...

Nov 18, 2022 · Thundersnow is a rare phenomenon seen only in the strongest winter storms, such as nor’easters, intense blizzards and bomb cyclones. But the underlying mechanisms of thundersnow are the...

Jan 12, 2024 · Sometimes lightning can occur within snowstorms and is called thundersnow. Thundersnow can be found where there is relatively strong instability and abundant moisture above the surface, such as...

Mar 4, 2009 · Thunder and lightning during a snowstorm is different from a run-of-the-mill snowstorm; it is extremely rare—fewer than 1 percent of observed snowstorms unleash thundersnow, according to a 1971...

Mar 10, 2020 · Lightning looks different during a snowstorm. In a regular thunderstorm, lightning is often blue or violet. Lightning in a snowstorm often appears white or golden and is brighter than normal because it’s reflected by snow. Thunder sounds different, too. Snow muffles thunder, so it sounds muted and isn’t heard as far away as regular thunder.