The answer to the question of whether or not there can be thunder and lightning during a snowstorm is this. It is possible but it is quite rare. Here's why. A thunderstorm depends on rapidly rising moist warm air to produce the effects we see. These effects are, large volumes of rain in a short period of time, strongly gusting winds, hail, and of course lightning. When conditions aren't right (surface air is too cool and dry) it is impossible for air at the surface to rise fast and high enough to create a thunderstorm cell. Basically in winter the air is not warm or moist enough to produce thunderstorm cells. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/dec96/844703853.Es.r.html

Well there was a thunder and lighting storm last Christmas when it was snowing really hard outside and the power went out. How is that for you?

Jan 21,2007: A snow storm with thunder and lightning happened again here in Sedona, AZ. The storm produced about 4 inches of wet snow and woke the dogs this morning before dawn. I recall a light snow on a winter afternoon about 7 years ago which also produced thunder and lightning. The ground temperature was too high for the snow to stay on the ground. Sedona, AZ is the only place where I have seen this weather.

Yes. But not often.

I've seen it twice. It's pretty spectacular. We got an ice storm during one of them that coated everything in a 1 inch layer.

Yes, it is fairly rare, because the meteorological processes which produce thunderstorms are usually different from those which produce snow, but the phenomenon, called "thundersnow", is well documented. Observations from government (National Weather Service) observing stations sometimes show lightning with snow (or other winter precipitation). For example at this location you can see observations alternating between Snow and Thunderstorm (there wasn't enough room in the column to say both). http://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/community/2006/BUF1013a.txt Weather radar (which is colored to show approximate winter precipitation types) and lightning strike maps can also be combined to provide additional proof. The images included with these answers show lightning strikes with snow and sleet (see blog URL's below for larger versions). I personally observed thunder and lightning during heavy snow in the Blizzard of 1993. I also blogged about recent examples of this phenomenon on my blog at these locations: 1/16/06 (Oklahoma): http://wwwa.accuweather.com/news-blogs.asp?blog=community&date=2007-01-16_19:08 12/1/06 (Missouri): http://wwwa.accuweather.com/news-blogs.asp?blog=community&date=2006-12-01_13:46 11/21/06 (Carolinas): http://wwwa.accuweather.com/news-blogs.asp?blog=community&date=2006-11-21_20:44 10/13/06 (New York): http://wwwa.accuweather.com/news-blogs.asp?blog=community&date=2006-10-13_13:44

no

yes. i had to ride home from school one night during a lightning/ snowstorm.

Yes, it happened earlier this year in Rochester, NY. In the late winter months, the temps change so drastically, and as you know, when the cold air meets the warm air you get "thunderboomers!" Add that to the fact that we are on a large lake (Ontario) and we see some crazy weather, including thunder and lightening during snowstorms. *Interesting trivia: when I was in 8th grade (1976) it snowed on June 6th. I was in English class and remember our teacher letting us get up to look out the window. :-)

Yes, I am not a fan of snow..but it was pretty incredible to see :)

i have seen it once... and that was a serious trip, cause i was outside in it... was wondering if i was gonna zapped....

Yes

Well, I am in Harrison Township, MI and we are in the middle of a major snowstorm. And at 4:30 am I saw lightening and heard thunder!! Frightened me at first but then ran to the doorwall to try to see it again!! So, yes, it really does happen

Yes, we see it here in North Carolina once in a while; we call such a storm a "Thunder Snow."

I just had it happen to me, i found that weird. In a matter of 15 min we had about an inch and a half of snow and it was maddness. It is a white out right now.

Yes...it's happening in central lower Michigan right now January 10, 2008. We've had a few days here where the temperatures got up to 55 degrees along with thunder storms and all the snow melted. Now all of a sudden temperatures are 28 degrees it's snowing very heavily and we've got huge lighting strikes and very loud thunder. I don't know what it means but it's certainly weird.

I was surprised to be able to answer this, but yes! We are having quite a snow storm (unusual within itself) here in Jerusalem and now it's thundering and lightning! Alatea answered that you have to have gusty winds, which we do have had for 2 days but we are thinking the warm air needed to form the thunder cell is coming up from the Dead Sea and rising above the cold air over the mountains of Jerusalem. Regardless of the physics and science of how it's working out, it's rather amazing and strange to see!

Well it's happening in Denver, Co., right this minute. It's snowing, lightning and thundering and it's 2-01-08

The answer is definetly YES! This was an amazing sight. We built a whole tunnel system in snow. The St. Louis "Blizzard" of 30-31 January 1982. On January 30th and 31st 1982, a 1-in-70 year snow event occurred from the eastern Ozarks to central Illinois with the heaviest axis of snow blanketing St. Louis, Missouri. The snow began during the evening of January 30th, a Saturday, and ended during the afternoon of Sunday, January 31st. The snow paralyzed the area with government offices, many businesses, and schools cancelling work or class for up to a week after the snow ended. The airport, Amtrak, and bus service were shut down. As many as 4,000 motorists were stranded on highways due to the blizzard-like conditions that were created over the region. Many people became stranded for days, with hospital and emergency workers working 2 to 3 shifts due to their coworkers inability to make it work. According to the Post Dispatch, one subdivision, Bee Tree Estates in South St. Louis County, was cut off from civilization for five days. Those who owned four-wheel-drive vehicles became the transportation service for the city, escorting nurses, doctors, and law enforcement to work. They also helped deliver necessary supplies to those in need and assisted ambulances, tow trucks, and other vehicles that became stuck in snow drifts. Residents across the area helped each other dig out from the worst snowstorm since February 20th, 1912 when 15.5 inches of snow was recorded. Mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl Jr., and then County Executive Gene McNary declared snow emergencies. The Missouri National Guard was eventually brought in to help with the disaster and ease the situation in the City of St. Louis. This snowstorm was remarkable and crippling to the St. Louis metropolitan area, although its claim to fame as being a blizzard is unfortunately untrue. For a blizzard to have occurred, the following conditions must have prevailed for a period of 3 or more consecutive hours: * Sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles an hour or greater, and * Considerable falling and/or blowing snow that reduces visibility frequently to less than 1/4 mile. The sustained wind at St. Louis International Airport (Lambert Field) never approached 35 miles per hour, in fact the highest wind speed recorded throughout the event was 26 mph. The 5 hour duration of thunder snow that was reported at Lambert Field was incredible, with snowfall rates of more than 2 inches per hour. The falling snow and wind did create snow drifts up to 6 feet and lower visibilities below one quarter of a mile during the storm. The storm was not well forecasted by the National Weather Service, private meteorologists, local television and radio meteorologists, nor local university meteorologists. The consensus the night before the event was for light snow to occur with a few inches of accumulation. Looking back, who could blame them, the low pressure center never dropped below 998 mb and the concepts and ideas that we as a forecast community have knowledge of now, were not yet known or practiced. So how could such a meager low pressure system produce a band of convective snow with total accumulations exceeding 20 inches?

i just saw it right now

I think it's possible but, I've never seen it.

I am sitting here right now during a snow storm and it is thundering a lightening out, and has been for the past 1/2 hour. We have several inches of snow and are expecting a lot more. We live a mile south of Lake Erie and get "lake effect snow".

Yes, It's Dec. 06.08 and my boyfriend and i were in the hottub out back having a couple drinks, it's snowing quite heavy (very cold) and a huge flash of light came with a sizzle (it seemed sooooo close). We looked at each other wondering wtf was that??? Then a huge roar of thunder followed. He basically pushed me to get out and go inside , which we did ASAP. After coming in we were laughing ( since we were safe, lol) and wondering what the hell was that all about. That was it for about 10 minutes and then we had one more flash of lightening and some more thunder! Weird, but true! This happened n Fort Erie ,Canada.

It's not as uncommon as you might think. Virtually all thunderstorms produce snow, but most of the time it melts on the way down. This is true even on the hottest summer day. If you have enough instability on a cold day the snow will make it all the way to the ground. Some snow-producing thunderstorms can dump a lot of snow in a very short time.

yes because i like waffles

Yes we have it here now in London England and its very scarey and very noisey too only ever seen it once before in a blizzard but this is full on!!

Certainly does happen, as captured by a BBC TV crew interviewing a member of the public in Kent on 1st Feb 2009 whilst the heaviest snowfall in 18 years hit the southeast of England. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7864183.stm

The lightning and thunder during a snow storm just happened about 10 minutes ago here in Minnesota. It's snowing like crazy out, we're expecting 4-8 inches of the white stuff, and all the sudden I see lightning, followed by a boom of thunder...totally amazing. I had to get on the internet and read about it. I have to say it was very odd, to say the least...

I have seen it.

yep!! i just witnessed it 3 times in less than an hour!! no thunder though. Just the whole sky lighting up with a blue/green tint to it. At first i thought it was a power outage thing, but nope. The power was fine and i was on the phone with my friend across town and she saw it twice as well!!! Its freaky lookin. I never thought that could happen. We have had snow/rain/ice balls all day and now we have 5inches and its still snowing and its really windy. This is the first storm all winter. I am in st.marys Maryland!!!

yes. Ive seen it before. Its crazy!

It happened to me as a kid. I was out in the snow playing and I ducked for cover when it happened.

It happened to me in in 2004 in Matthews NC. I was walking through the snow to get into my house and when I reached the door the hair on my neck stood up. Then all at once there was extreme heat and a blinding white light with a loud crack. I couldn't see for a few seconds and my ears rang for a while afterwards. Snow lightning definetly exists!