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Thundersnow, likewise referred to as a winter season thunderstorm, occurs when a snowstorm is accompanied by thunder and lightning.
(Image credit: Bill Hornstein/Getty Images )
An uncommon weather condition phenomenon rumbled throughout numerous eastern and main U.S. states this weekend as Arctic air continues to bring heavy snow and freezing temperature levels to countless Americans.
Thundersnow, likewise referred to as a winter season thunderstorm, occurs when a snowstorm is accompanied by thunder and lightning. Since Monday( Jan. 6)early morning, the phenomenon has actually been reported throughout much of the southern Midwest along with in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.[
“We are getting thundersnow/thundersleet,” NWS agents composed in a post on X, previously Twitter. “This just underscores that snow/sleet rates are pretty heavy – avoid travel if at all possible!”
Video of Kansas meteorologist Jim Cantore responding to the unusual phenomenon has actually gotten thousands of views on the website.
Thundersnow in KC. We got it child! Fantastic day at the workplace! Live w/ @JimCantore on @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/m1zJxwQdIlJanuary 5, 2025What triggers thundersnow?
Thunderstorms take place when warm, damp air increases and condenses in cooler, clothes dryer air above it, forming imposing cumulus clouds. Inside these clouds is a mix of light ice crystals, which drift up, and soft hail referred to as graupel, which is denser and falls downward. This triggers both particles to crash each other, triggering electrons to be moved from the ice crystals to the graupel. Completion outcome is a cumulus cloud with favorably charged ice crystals on top and adversely charged graupel at the bottom, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
This constructs unfavorable charge at the base of the cloud, driving away electrons in the Earth below it. The charge distinction in between the cloud and the ground develops till ultimately the prospective energy is released as a bolt of lightning.
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The energy from this strike warms up the surrounding air, triggering it to take off outside and producing the rumbling noise we understand as thunder.
Thundersnow happens when this weather condition system happens in the middle of a snowstorm.
Why is thundersnow so uncommon?
The conditions needed to develop thunderstorms hardly ever happen throughout the cold weather.
“In winter (especially when the weather is cold enough for snow to fall), there is much less energy in the atmosphere and the heating of the surface is much reduced,” Jon Shonka Senior Scientist at the UK’s Met Office and scientist at the University of Reading, informed Live Science in an e-mail. “Thunderstorms form more readily in summer when the atmosphere is warmer and can hold more energy and moisture.”
In the unusual cases when thundersnow does take place, it tends to be around the Great Lakes. “In the United States, thundersnow occurs more often in the central part of the country, Intermountain West and across the Great Lakes region,” Jesse FerrellAccuWeather senior weather condition editor and meteorologist, informed AccuWeather “Intense lake-effect snow bands, which have pockets of rapidly rising air due to the sharp contrast between cold air aloft and the warm lake water, often produce thundersnow.”
FOX Weather Meteorologist Kendall Smith– who saw the phenomenon in Kansas City on Sunday– stated that it was really uncommon to see thundersnow so far south, explaining the occasion as “historical.”
Related: Polar vortex might bring fatal winter season storms and coldest weather condition in more than a years to United States
The winter that the U.S. is presently experiencing has actually been driven by massive air pressure modifications and a shift in the band of strong winds that usually keep cold air in the Arctic, called the polar vortex. This shift triggers freezing air to dip much additional south than regular, leading to the freezing temperature levels that the U.S. is presently experiencing. And when this rush of freezing air bumps up versus warmer, tropical air from the south, it can produce the suitable conditions for thundersnow.
“A significant surge of moisture lifting from the Gulf of Mexico got ingested into the developing low pressure, and then lifted vertically to induce elevated instability,” Josh Weissa forecaster at NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center, informed Live Science in an e-mail. “Where atmospheric ascent was most pronounced (usually on the north/northwest side of these intense cyclones), this resulted in an intense band of snow accompanied by lightning and thunder: thundersnow!”
Is thundersnow unsafe?
“Like any storm that produces lightning, thundersnow can be dangerous,” Weiss stated. “However, lightning and thunder that accompanies a snowstorm is usually less frequent and less intense than in summer-time thunderstorms.”
Unlike thunderstorms in the summertime, in which thunder can be spoken with miles away, snow tends to stifle its noise, restricting the range at which it can be heard. Hence, individuals might be less mindful of an upcoming storm and more at threat of unforeseen lightning strikes.
Shonk included that, while the strike rate of lightning throughout a winter season thunderstorm is much lower than throughout summertime storms, they can likewise be more destructive.
Both Weiss and Shonk stated that the most substantial danger of thundersnow is the accompanying heavy snowfall. “Thundersnow usually occurs only during the most intense snowfall,” Weiss stated, which can cause bad exposure and hazardous travel conditions.
Since Monday (Jan. 6), winter season storm cautions were still in location throughout the Central Plains through to the Mid-Atlantic, with disruptive storm conditions anticipated to last till Monday night, the NWS stated. A state of emergency situation has actually been stated in Arkansas, Kansas, New Jersey, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia, and 18 inches of snow fell in parts of Kansas over night. NWS likewise forecast approximately 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow by Monday night throughout the Mid-Atlantic, consisting of Washington, D.C.
Pandora is the trending news editor at Live Science. She is likewise a science speaker and formerly worked as Senior Science and Health Reporter at Newsweek. Pandora holds a Biological Sciences degree from the University of Oxford, where she specialised in biochemistry and molecular biology.
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