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Altoids Addict (![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} altoidsaddict) wrote,@ 2008-02-02 00:39:00 |
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Thundersnow
Our apartment complex and the immediate surrounding blocks were host tonight to an extremely rare meteorological phenomenon called thundersnow. It consisted of a small handful of intense, loud, and dangerous lightning strikes and thunder claps, and about an inch of snow in a very short time.
Seeing it snow and then seeing the flash of lightning without the thunder clap, my first thought was in fact lightning since the computer speakers crackled and the hair on my arm stood on end - then confusion, because snowstorms don't have lightning. Then I thought maybe one of the hospital's helicopters had crashed nearby. A little bit after that, we heard the thunder clap, which was more like a percussive roar. Now, this may seem confusing. If the storm is directly overhead, shouldn't the thunderclap be right on top of the lightning? Not in thundersnow. The snow particles mess with the sound and contain it within a very small geographical area - one square mile, whereas you can hear a normal thunderstorm four to five miles away. It also delays the sound and muffles it, so if the thunderclap is as loud as it was (it set off car alarms here, made the dog nuts, and gave me a mild headache) it means get the fuck away from the windows.
To give you some sense of how rare this is:
Our storm occurred far away from a large body of water, happened too far away from the mountains, and produced a legitimate strike to the ground. A house across the street from the apartment complex was hit (no injuries, nobody home).
Our apartment complex and the immediate surrounding blocks were host tonight to an extremely rare meteorological phenomenon called thundersnow. It consisted of a small handful of intense, loud, and dangerous lightning strikes and thunder claps, and about an inch of snow in a very short time.
Seeing it snow and then seeing the flash of lightning without the thunder clap, my first thought was in fact lightning since the computer speakers crackled and the hair on my arm stood on end - then confusion, because snowstorms don't have lightning. Then I thought maybe one of the hospital's helicopters had crashed nearby. A little bit after that, we heard the thunder clap, which was more like a percussive roar. Now, this may seem confusing. If the storm is directly overhead, shouldn't the thunderclap be right on top of the lightning? Not in thundersnow. The snow particles mess with the sound and contain it within a very small geographical area - one square mile, whereas you can hear a normal thunderstorm four to five miles away. It also delays the sound and muffles it, so if the thunderclap is as loud as it was (it set off car alarms here, made the dog nuts, and gave me a mild headache) it means get the fuck away from the windows.
To give you some sense of how rare this is:
- Only 0.07% of snowstorms produce any sort of thunder or lightning.
- Most of these are technically sleet-based or sleet-and-snow mixed; at least on our block it was pure snow, and a couple other blocks are reporting pure snow as well.
- Most of these thundersnows occur directly in the mountains or very near large bodies of water. If they happen in the US it's likely to be in the Great Lakes region.
- Most of the meteorologists studying this phenomenon have not gotten the chance to experience it for themselves, but amateur meteorologists practically wet their pants over it.
- Because it is so rare, it is very understudied.
Our storm occurred far away from a large body of water, happened too far away from the mountains, and produced a legitimate strike to the ground. A house across the street from the apartment complex was hit (no injuries, nobody home).
