# A snowstorm... and thunder and lightning??
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 12, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202 "2000-12-12T17:56:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/1 "2000-12-12T17:56:40Z")
I now call upon the teeming millions to erradicate my ignorance on this subject. Yesterday consisted mostly of snow in the form of a storm - I haven’t taken out my ruler, but I’d say that there’s at least 15cm of snow on the ground that wasn’t there before. This on it’s own is no big deal for me, but the fact that late last night there was _thunder and lightning_ is.
I have never heard/seen thunder and lightning in the winter, certainly not in conjunction with a snowstorm. I have just moved here this year for school, and I have already noticed that the Great Lakes area is decidedly more humid in the winter than the Eastern Townships of Québec, but I wouldn’t have expected this!
So, can anyone explain to me whats going on? Since I forget the little I learned about weather in grade 5, I’m hoping someone here can explain this to me. Is it not uncommon, and just simply didn’t happen in the area where I’m from?
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/2 "2000-12-12T19:11:01Z")
Yes, it happens. I used to live near the south shore of Lake Ontario, and we got lightning with snowstorms about once every year or two. Now I live in Maine about 20 miles from the ocean, and we get lightning during a snowstorm about once every two or three years. For more information, see [Snowstorm Lightning](http://www.weathernotebook.com/transcripts/1999/07/14.html)
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### Author:  [@schief2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schief2)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/3 "2000-12-12T19:21:39Z")
It’s rare, but it does happen, particularly with lake-effect snowstorms. See this page for one of those loveable USA Today ‘infographics’ on the topic:
[http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wlakeeff.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wlakeeff.htm)
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### Author:  [@Girl\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Hermit)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/4 "2000-12-12T19:39:44Z")
I am so glad you asked this question \*\* mnemosyne\*\*. I was wondering the same thing. I’ve lived in SW Ontario my entire life and have never seen this happen until last night. It was very strange.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2000, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/5 "2000-12-12T19:46:53Z")
An earlier thread on this subject:
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=5080](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=5080)
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### Author:  [@Doubleclick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubleclick)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/6 "2000-12-12T20:15:21Z")
I’ll make the assumption that you live near me…(Kitchener, ON)
We got hit with the storm. Then the snow stopped and the thunder and lightning began. I thought it was odd, but just figured it was a result the the freezing rain we were to get.
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### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2000, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/7 "2000-12-13T17:52:59Z")
Yeah, **Doubleclick** I’m near you. Guelph, actually. I was up late studying, and the first lightning/thunder surprised me so much!
Thanks for all the info everyone!
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### Author:  [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2000, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/8 "2000-12-13T19:42:38Z")
Has anyone ever been skiing in the mountains in a snowstorm?
That’s crazy wild because you will hear thunder (or is it an avalanche?) and then they will shut down the chairlifts, getting everyone who is on one to the top first, of course. It usually doesn’t last long, but skiing in the middle of a storm, actually up in the clouds, with lightning cracking closely from above, is really freaky cool.
Try Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah. (Alta & Snowbird resorts)
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### Author:  [@Viscera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viscera)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/9 "2000-12-13T19:52:51Z")
As was said before, it is not that common.
What is happening is that the area north of the warm front (and low pressure center) is usually stable. However, occasionally, you get a fairly potent storm (in this case), where there is some instability above the surface. In these cases, the inflow for the storms is actually above the surface (unlike most summer thunderstorms), and these thunderstorms are considered “elevated”. As temperatures in the atmosphere get cooler, instability is harder to obtain. Hence, almost any day in the summer will have some instability, while it is very rare in the winter (and even then, only aloft). Also helping the fact in this case is that with such a potent storm, the air rises more quickly than with a weaker storm. This extra lift can help to form areas of thunder.
This is very similar to spring time weather systems, where you have a large area of rain, and occasional areas of thunder, with temperatures that are cool. These “elevated” storms usually aren’t severe.
As to lake-effect thunderstorms, due to the large difference between the air temperature and the water temperature, it is possible to get some instability (more common than the previous example), and thunder-snow is more common.
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### Author:  [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2000, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-snowstorm-and-thunder-and-lightning/45202/10 "2000-12-13T22:38:11Z")
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- I live in the St Louis, MO-USA area and we had light snow with faint lightning just a few days ago. No thunder, though. - MC