A rare weather phenomenon rumbled across several eastern and central U.S. states this weekend as Arctic air continues to bring heavy snow and freezing temperatures to millions of Americans.
Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm, happens when a snowstorm is accompanied by thunder and lightning. As of Monday (Jan. 6) morning, the phenomenon has been reported across much of the southern Midwest as well as in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis, Missouri, shared satellite imagery taken from NASA‘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 wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “This just underscores that snow/sleet rates are pretty heavy – avoid travel if at all possible!”
The green splotches on this satellite imagery are lightning flashes as seen from GOES-East in space! That means…we are getting thundersnow/thundersleet! This just underscores that snow/sleet rates are pretty heavy – avoid travel if at all possible! pic.twitter.com/8I9sSVfXVoJanuary 5, 2025
Meanwhile, footage of Kansas meteorologist Jim Cantore reacting to the rare phenomenon has received thousands of views on the site.
Thundersnow in KC. We got 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 rises and condenses in cooler, dryer air above it, forming towering cumulus clouds. Inside these clouds is a combination of light ice crystals, which float upward, and soft hail known as graupel, which is denser and falls downward. This causes both particles to bang into each other, causing electrons to be transferred from the ice crystals to the graupel. The end result is a cumulus cloud with positively charged ice crystals at the top and negatively charged graupel at the bottom, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
This builds negative charge at the base of the cloud, repelling electrons in the Earth beneath it. The charge difference between the cloud and the ground builds up until eventually the potential energy is discharged as a bolt of lightning.
The energy from this strike heats up the surrounding air, causing it to explode outward and creating the rumbling…
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