Thundersnow is rare. How does it occur within snowstorms?

Most of us can say that we've experienced a thunderstorm, but what about thundersnow? It's rare and those who get to hear it are lucky! Thundersnow does not occur in every snowfall event. We need a few key ingredients.

For thundersnow to occur, we need lightning. Lightning only occurs in the most unstable of environments. Moisture and heat create instability in the atmosphere, but since it's snowing, where would the heat come from?

Thundersnow often occurs where there is a warm front nearby, which helps provide a warmer, more wet air mass for the overall winter storm to tap into. This instability helps the storm drop heavy snow quickly, creating friction within the clouds then BOOM - leading to lightning and then thunder.

So why is it often not heard? The snow is a great insulator, dampening sound waves. Those only within a few miles of the lightning usually hear the thunder. Monitor the snow and possible lightning together on our WeatherRadar.