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A rare weather phenomenon rumbled across several eastern and central U.S. state this weekend as Arctic atmosphere continues to bring large snow and immobilise temperature to millions of Americans .
Thundersnow , also known as awinterthunderstorm , fall out when a snowstorm is accompanied by thunder and lightning . As of Monday ( Jan. 6 ) good morning , the phenomenon has been cover across much of the southerly Midwest as well as in Maryland , Virginia and Washington , D.C.
Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm, happens when a snowstorm is accompanied by thunder and lightning.
The National Weather Service ( NWS ) in St. Louis , Missouri , share satellite mental imagery taken fromNASA ’s GOES - East in space showing lightning flashes across Arkansas , Kansas , Oklahoma and Missouri on Sunday ( Jan. 5 ) .
" We are getting thundersnow / thundersleet , " NWS representatives drop a line in a post on X , formerly Twitter . " This just underline that snow / sleet charge per unit are pretty cloggy - avoid change of location if at all possible ! "
The green splodge on this artificial satellite imaging are lightning wink as seen from GOES - East in space ! That think of … we are getting thundersnow / thundersleet ! This just emphasise that blow / sleet rate are pretty labored - avoid travel if at all potential ! pic.twitter.com/8I9sSVfXVoJanuary 5 , 2025
Meanwhile , footage of Kansas meteorologist Jim Cantore respond to the uncommon phenomenon has received one thousand of opinion on the site .
Thundersnow in KC . We sustain it baby ! Great day at the office ! Live w/ @JimCantore on @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/m1zJxwQdIlJanuary 5 , 2025
What causes thundersnow?
Thunderstorms occur when warm , moist air uprise and condenses in cooler , dryer breeze above it , shape towering cumulus clouds . Inside these clouds is a combination of light ice crystals , which be adrift upward , and flaccid hail hump as graupel , which is denser and falls downward . This causes both atom to bang into each other , causing electron to be transfer from the meth crystal to the graupel . The end resultant is a cumulus swarm with positively charged ice crystals at the top and negatively charge graupel at the bottom , allot to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) .
This work up electronegative charge at the base of the cloud , repelling electrons in the Earth beneath it . The flush difference between the cloud and the ground build up until eventually the likely Department of Energy is release as a thunderbolt of lightning .
The vigour from this strike heats up the surrounding air , make it to explode outward and creating the grumble sound we bonk as big H .
Thundersnow happens when this weather system of rules pass in the midst of a blizzard .
Why is thundersnow so rare?
The conditions necessitate to produce thunderstorms seldom occur during the wintertime calendar month .
" In wintertime ( peculiarly when the atmospheric condition is cold enough for snow to fall ) , there is much less push in the aura and the heating of the control surface is much reduced,“Jon Shonk , a Senior Scientist at the UK ’s Met Office and researcher at the University of Reading , tell Live Science in an email . " electric storm form more readily in summer when the ambience is warmer and can hold more energy and wet . "
In the uncommon cases when thundersnow does go on , it tends to be around the Great Lakes . " In the United States , thundersnow occurs more often in the cardinal part of the country , Intermountain West and across the Great Lakes region,“Jesse Ferrell , AccuWeather senior weather editor and meteorologist , toldAccuWeather"Intense lake - effect snow bands , which have pockets of rapidly climb up air due to the sharp contrast between insensate atmosphere aloft and the warm lake water , often bring on thundersnow . "
However , FOX Weather Meteorologist Kendall Smith — who saw the phenomenon in Kansas City on Sunday — said that it was very unusual to see thundersnow so far south , describing the issue as " historical . "
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The insensate weather that the U.S. is presently know has been driven by large - scale atmospheric pressure change and a shift in the band of strong winds that ordinarily keep cold air in the Arctic , known as the gelid whirl . This sack causes freezing air to dip much further south than normal , resulting in the frigid temperatures that the U.S. is currently live . And when this rush of freeze atmosphere blow up against warmer , tropical air from the south , it can make the appropriate conditions for thundersnow .
" A significant surge of wet lifting from the Gulf of Mexico got ingest into the formulate low pressure , and then lifted vertically to hasten elevated instability,“Josh Weiss , a forecaster at NOAA ’s Weather Prediction Center , evidence Live Science in an email . " Where atmospherical ascent was most pronounced ( usually on the Union / northwest side of these intense cyclones ) , this resulted in an intense band of snow accompanied by lightning and thunder : thundersnow ! "
Is thundersnow dangerous?
" Like any storm that produces lightning , thundersnow can be dangerous , " Weiss said . " However , lightning and nose drops that accompanies a blizzard is usually less frequent and less intense than in summer - time thunderstorms . "
Unlike thunderstorm in the summer , in which roaring can be heard from miles out , snow run to muffle its sound , circumscribe the distance at which it can be heard . Thus , people may be less conservative of an impending storm and more at peril of unexpected lightning smasher .
Shonk added that , while the work stoppage rate of lightning during a winter thunderstorm is much low than during summer storms , they can also be more prejudicial .
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However , both Weiss and Shonk say that the most significant risk of thundersnow is the accompanying leaden snowfall . " Thundersnow commonly come about only during the most acute snow , " Weiss say , which can lead to pitiable profile and dangerous travelling conditions .
As of Monday ( Jan. 6 ) , winter violent storm warnings were still in situation across the Central Plains through to the Mid - Atlantic , with turbulent tempest conditions gestate to last until Monday eventide , the NWS said . A land of pinch has been declared in Arkansas , Kansas , New Jersey , Missouri , Kentucky , Virginia and West Virginia , and 18 inch of snow fell in parts of Kansas overnight . NWS also predictup to 12 inches ( 30 cm ) of Baron Snow of Leicester by Monday eventide across the Mid - Atlantic , including Washington , D.C.
