is there thunder and lightning in a winter storm ? and if so is it rare?

Question:

Answer: Yes it does occur, but it is rare. To understand why its rare, one needs to understand what causes lightning. You need a deep core of ice crystals above a core of liquid water within the storm cloud. This causes a separation of different charges that leads to the lightning strike. Usually storm clouds in winter storms are too shallow in nature to produce the charge separation needed for lightning, but sometimes it does occur. More often than not, lightning/thunder occurs where you have freezing rain or sleet (recall the need for core of ice particles above core of liquid), though it can happen with snow as well. Lightning/thunder tend to occur with very intense winter storms, which produce enough lift and unstable air aloft, to produce storm clouds deep enough to support lightning. Hope this helps. For more information on these types of weather hazards, I refer you to a public education course I developed...at http://www.storm-prep.com.

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