What in hell is "thundersnow"?
Leicester_Hunk
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Have you ever heard of snow and thunder at the same time? I haven't.
BTW we have sod all snow here today.
BTW we have sod all snow here today.
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Leicester_Hunk
Posts: 18,316
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30814403
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
It was already snowing quite heavily, when I suddenly saw a couple of "flashes" which I thought 'can't be lightning?' but then there were rumbles of thunder afterwards.
When I looked it up I found that it occurs under exactly the same conditions in the clouds as required during summer - the air temperature determining whether the output of the cloud is rain or snow.
It is weird and impressive though
It's no different to any other winter thundery shower, except that it's cold enough for the snow to reach the ground rather than melt into rain on the way down. It's interesting enough to warrant its own name, thundersnow.
A few years ago, a particularly active cold front moving quickly south produced a wide (E-W) but narrow (N-S) band of thunderclaps and heavy snow lasting just a few minutes, from the Midlands all the way to the south coast. One minute, nothing but damp pavements. A minute later and all hell broke loose, thunderclaps, lightning, 2 inches of snow. It brought the entire neighbourhood out onto their doorsteps or streets!
EDIT... It was 28th January 2004! How time flies!!!
First heard about it in America.
Yes, a couple of years ago we had thundersnow in Bristol. Actually, I couldn't hear the thunder, but the lightning was an odd colour - purple almost.
I didn't see it anyway, I was in bed recovering from the flu.
My Son in law, a local, tells me Liecester has an anti snow forcefield around it.
First time I have ever been witness to this rar(ish) meteorological phenomenon.
No ,its not just a press term. It's a thunderstorm that occurs during a snowfall. Just because it's rare doesn't mean it's made up.