Thunder Snows

We had a lovely little surprise blizzard yesterday, with thunder and lightning. No one knew why lightning is uncommon during a snowstorm although my bay-mate's husband could tell us why there isn't any lightning on Europa. (There's no atmosphere - ba-dum-ching!)

According to meterologist Wendell Bechtold:

These storms are usually caused by a strong surge of warm moist air flowing over a dome of cold air at the surface. Thunderstorms may develop, but temperatures are such that the precipitation remains all snow as it falls to the ground.

Dave Thurlow at The Weather Notebook concurs:

Snowstorms are cold and cold air doesn't rise and create big thunderstorm clouds as readily as warm air does. That's why hot summer days are the predominant breeding days for thunder and lightning. But if there is enough energy in the atmosphere, and a lot of moisture, thunderstorm clouds can form and drop snow instead of rain when the temperatures are just below freezing.

So now we know!

I also think "Thunder Snows" would be a good name for a cartoon. Like a dubbed Japanese cartoon. But maybe that's just because it reminds me of Thunder Cats.