# Why is there no lightning/thunder during blizzards? **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567 **Category:** Factual Questions **Created:** [January 11, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567 "2010-01-11T22:04:41Z") **Posts on this page:** 10 **Page:** 1
### Author: ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/1 "2010-01-11T22:04:41Z")
eh? ---
### Author: ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/2 "2010-01-11T22:06:12Z")
There is, sometimes. ---
### Author: ![unclelem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ac91a4/32.png) [@unclelem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclelem) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/3 "2010-01-11T22:09:39Z")
It’s rare, but it does happen [previous report here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2196/why-dont-snowstorms-produce-lightning) ---
### Author: ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/4 "2010-01-11T22:10:23Z")
[An earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=153114) on the subject. Inside it are links to even earlier threads, one reaching back to the dawn of the creation of this (post-AOL) board. ---
### Author: ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/5 "2010-01-11T22:14:04Z")
Up here in the frozen white north of MN, we call these incidents “thundersnow.” It’s rare, but it does happen. We had some earlier this winter. I don’t know that it’d happen in a full on blizzard, though, but I suppose it’s possible. ---
### Author: ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/6 "2010-01-11T22:38:06Z")
We call it ‘thundersnow’ here in MO, too. It’s very, very dangerous–one second, it’s snowing nicely, the nighttime sky is glowing eerily, and the wind is fairly calm. Then there’s a crack of thunder that seems to rip through everything. The next second, all you can see is white, white, white. That one brought tremendous winds and dumped over 16 inches on us, so I guess it was part of a blizzard. ---
### Author: ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/7 "2010-01-11T22:47:42Z")
We had thundersnow in Ireland just last week. It’s not the first time I’ve experienced it. It seems to happen when moist cold air comes in from the north-east over the sea. ---
### Author: ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit) #### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/8 "2010-01-11T23:39:08Z")
Yep, it happened a time or two last winter. It’s _weird_. ---
### Author: ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl) #### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/9 "2010-01-12T00:48:45Z")
It’s weird, but so cool! ---
### Author: ![Eegba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Eegba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eegba) #### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-lightning-thunder-during-blizzards/524567/10 "2010-01-12T07:55:42Z")
Obligatory [Lewis Black](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZsiU4Kkj1c) moment.