Lightening strike in Denver snow storm

[DearAbby]

It was freaky...anyone else hear it?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Are you sure it wasn't a transformer?

[DearAbby]

3. I am sure

Saw a flash of light and a few seconds later the booming....

looked it up.



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://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1005120801369

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. How do you know ?

Transformers exploding also cause flashes of light and booming. Are you somewhere were there aren't transformers?

[DearAbby]

6. Well I dont know,

there was no blinking of our power...I am not near a transformer.

[Matariki]

31. I've seen that in Seattle - snow & lightning at the same time.

Both are rare here, but both at once? Wow.

[originalpckelly]

35. This storm stretches all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico...

it's sucking moisture up from there. On the warm side there is just plain old rain, and from the severity of the rain it looks like there could be thunderstorms on the warm side. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

[Az]

44. Could still be a transformer

I saw something very similar once. Big bright flash... wait for it .... boom... coulda sworn it was lightning. Found out later it was a transformer going boomy.

[whistle]

2. Are you certain, it could have been a high voltage electrical transformer exploding

[DearAbby]

5. Wouldn't it sound following the flash be closer

the flash of light, then a few seconds later the thunder. rolling sounding thunder.

[hippiechick]

7. Thundersnow

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/334/

Happens here in Indiana occassionally.

I think it's COOL! but I'm constantly amazed by Mother Nature.


:hi:

[DearAbby]

10. I was wondering if I was going crazy

visions of the Donner party....Hubby is looking tasty. Opps did I just type that?


It startled me.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

41. I love thundersnow

I remember it happening several times in Illinois when I was growing up.

The whole atmosphere is sort of scary and beautiful at once.

[wicket]

8. We had one of those about a year ago here in Boston

It was pretty freaky to watch - and a plane landing at Logan airport was struck by lightning during it.

[Dr.Phool]

9. It might be rare in Denver

But we used to have "thunder snow" on occasion when I lived in Cleveland.

Hell, in the Tampa Bay area, we sometimes get lightning when there isn't a cloud in the sky.

[Cameron27]

11. Ok, THAT I've gotta look up!

I LOVE screwball weather.

[BushOut06]

12. I was caught in one of those awhile back

I was visiting Salt Lake City years ago, and a group of us went for a walk in the mountains nearby. It was pretty warm when we left, so I wore short sleeves and didn't take a jacket. After awhile, it started getting colder, and eventually began snowing - with a little lightning thrown in for good measure.

[jus_the_facts]

13. We had thundersleet down here in Louisiana...

...back in the 90's.

[NRaleighLiberal]

14. I've experienced a lightning snowstorm a few times....quite unusual.

Certainly quite surprising!

[Skidmore]

15. We had a couple of thundersnows last year.

No real snow this year to speak of though. It's been very warm for this time of the year. Right now it is raining.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

16. So What's The Problem?

on edit: Ohhhhh, ok, guess some never thought it could lightening during a snowstorm. I get it now.

It of course happens far less frequently than in summer rainstorms, but it absolutely can happen. I've seen it several times.

[DearAbby]

20. No Problem

keeping my fingers crossed that the power stays on. Other than that, great weather for crawling under the covers and reading. Or just reading DU!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

21. Oops! You Responded Right As I Was Editing Above.

I thought there was more to it originally. I didn't realize it was more of a 'didn't know it can lightning when it snows' type thing.

[DearAbby]

17. They are advising everyone

to just stay home...its gonna be a big dumper, with upslope affect. Visibility is good to across the street. Roads are snowpacked. Most main roads. Heard that the Interstates are closed. Even having Big rig trucks, with Chain advisory in TOWN! Wind gusts rattle the windows at times. Winter wonderland...

[madokie]

18. a couple years ago we had a thunderstorm except it snowed rather than rain

the weatherman called it a thundersnow, I kid you not. and I'm older than a big tree and it was the first time I had seen or heard lightning during a snowstorm

[karlrschneider]

19. I heard it! And I'm 500 miles away!

J/K, but we often have thundersnowstorms here in Okla. :-)

[Tess49]

38. As a matter of fact, we had it here (Central Okla) a couple of weeks ago. N/T

[karlrschneider]

40. Here too, on Ft. Gibson lake 35 miles east of Tulsa.

I forget the year now, but it was about 1964...lived in Tulsa and we had a HUGE thundersnowstorm in APRIL. I was 'snowed in' for over 2 days at a friend's house, we got around a foot of wet snow.

[Parche]

22. DEN

Looks like every single flight in and out is cancelled today..........and for the Christmas
holiday!

[karlrschneider]

28. They'll have it under control before this time tomorrow.

Fret not. :D

[Scout1071]

23. We've had thunder during snowstorms in KC a few times.

That just means it's one bad ass snow storm. And I'd say that since you are projected for 2 ft in Denver...that qualifies for a bad ass snow storm.

Hunker down and enjoy it!

[originalpckelly]

24. Working on finding live lightning tracker to see if there was any lightning.

will update when I find one.

[xultar]

26. What are you saying?

[originalpckelly]

27. I had a map where I thought I found lightning strikes...

it appear there were none, and that the map from was from 7/25/2005. :rofl:

[xultar]

39. Yeah, I hear that ime travel is a bitch.

[karlrschneider]

29. Weatherbug will do that

:-)

[originalpckelly]

30. Yep, I forgot and I also forgot about WeatherUnderground...

Wunderground reports no lightning.

[karlrschneider]

37. They don't catch all lightning. This morning about 6:30 the cat woke me up

and just as I opened my eyes I saw a huge flash through the window with a REAL big thunderclap about a second later (so it was a few hundred feet away)...it had been raining on and off all night but NO thunder up until that single solitary boom, it echoed around for almost half a minute. None after, either. Sometimes those weird isolated strikes just happen.

[xultar]

25. Thundersnow storms are AWESOME!!!

[Matariki]

32. A friend of mine called me from Denver this afternoon and was supposed to call back

he was on the way to the dentist. I haven't heard back from him. How bad is the weather there?

[originalpckelly]

34. Pretty bad.

A little more than pretty bad, actually.

[originalpckelly]

33. 9NEWS reports thundersnow has been confirmed!

OMG! Run the fuck away from computers!

[originalpckelly]

36. This is like the Apocalypse! Snow and fucking thunder!

Snow and fucking thunder! What the hell?

[Individualist]

42. Unusual but not that rare

Even here in northeast TN, we had a snowstorm with thunder several decades ago.

[NMDemDist2]

43. here in Southern NM we had freezing rain and sleet last night

and HUGE lightening and thunder as it rolled over

freaky is right!