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*Stormforce~beka*

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Posted
  • Location: Winchester, Hampshire ~ Southern Central!
  • Location: Winchester, Hampshire ~ Southern Central!

Always seems to come up every winter somewhere. I have been researcing the day that I remember. http://www.lynehamvillage.com/news/weather...hundersnow.html

We were moving house and taking boxes home from work at 5:30pm was snowing a bit by the time we walked 2 minutes to go outside it was a blizzard, extremely strong winds and thuunder and lightning. I remember it well - It took us 30 minutes to do a 5 minute sjourney home as it was so icy. When we got the car park the box and us had 1/2 - 1 inch of snow on.

Tell us your stories.

Here are a few more links:

http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geuk_rBF1F1...iki/Thundersnow

http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geuk_rBF1F1...fm/13646/111679

I'm sure there are more out there but this is all I could find in my quick search.

Anyone got any charts or any more info/pics to post?? (28th January 2004)

Edited by *Stormforce~beka*
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Posted
  • Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
  • Location: Falmouth, Cornwall

I remember one time, about 3 years ago, when I was in Surrey living with other students, and we had thunder and lightning with snow. The snow was pretty heavy for about an hour and then stopped. It wasn't even that late in the year. The lightning was very bright and the thunder fairly loud too.

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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury,Shropshire
  • Location: Shrewsbury,Shropshire

January 2005 IIRC we had thunder snow(may have been 2004??) VERY heavy snow with one big clap of thunder. Never experienced it before and haven't experienced it since.

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Posted
  • Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
  • Location: Aberdeen, Scotland

Thundersnow 3rd March (a Friday morning) this year when we had a record amount of snow fall - the most for 40 years I think it was. There was a good 11-12 inches in my garden in Aberdeen city center that morning - after a few days of lying snow with melting during the day.

http://www.metoffice.com/corporate/pressof...pr20060303.html

The thunder felt like it was coming from under the ground, an amazing sensation, and the lightning was blinding. There were at least 3 rumbles with lighting.

The attached image was taken the day before when we only had a few inches - it's to get you all in the mood for the coming winter. :)

post-5343-1163780561.jpg

Edited by LadyPakal
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Posted
  • Location: Leicester endz
  • Location: Leicester endz

Heres the chart which bought thundersnow in Jan 2004

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/20...00120040128.gif

http://www.wetterzentrale.de/archive/ra/20...00220040128.gif

I remmeber this day very well.

It started raining heavily at around 1:30 and continued for about half an hour. Then all of a sudden there was lightining and thunder. After this the rain turned immediatly to snow. Snowflakes were so big it settled everywhere straight away. This snowed continued for about 2 hours and left about 4" of snow. Temperatures got down to -7C at night. Next day schools were cancelled :D:) . This was only the second time school were closed because of snow.

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Posted
  • Location: Farnham, Surrey.
  • Location: Farnham, Surrey.

It was all caused by a narrow but aggressive cold front which moved directly South at speed. It dropped temps by 5 to 8 degrees in many places. I remember in Farnham we had a lot of thunder, rain turning rapidly to snow and then it froze hard! What was interesting is that I watched the front come in from the North at dusk and you could see the cloud piled extremely high just in front of the cold front in the setting sun. It was very windy for the hour beforehand from the West which then swiftly turned to the North within a few minutes.

Very dramatic stuff!!

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Posted
  • Location: Ballyclare (NI)
  • Location: Ballyclare (NI)

I used to be in a first aid organisation. We had our own fleet of ambulances and having taken a rugby player to the local A+E unit we got into the ambulance to head back to the rugby grounds. As we got into the ambulance, it started to snow. By the time we got to the gates of the hospital everywher was white. Our route took us on the outer ring in Belfast and up a very steep hill. Traffic was at a standstill and the ambulance service were half way up the hill at an accident I told the driver to stick the blue lights on and head into the middle of the road and head towards the accident, to lend a hand. There was a large blue flash from outside and I thought that the ambulance blue beacon had blown. The driver had not yet put the lights on. Then we heard the rumble of thunder. Just the one peal but the lightning was definetly blue in colour.

Same thing happened when I was driving into Ballyclare about 10 years ago (or so). Coming down the hill into ballyclare and still well outside the towns lights, I saw a huge blue flash off to the right where there was a heavy snow shower clearing off from the town.

Only saw lightning in snow twice and both times was awe struck by it. :)

Something to behold.

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Posted
  • Location: 4 miles north of Durham City
  • Location: 4 miles north of Durham City

We sometimes get thunder-snow on the Tyne&Wear coastline in late November or during December (whilst the sea temp's are still warm enough). It's not been particularly spectacular in Durham, mainly due to the fact that we are bit too much inland.

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

My weather records dating back to 1993 indicate sleet and hail accompanied by thunder on the following dates: 17 November 1995, 14 December 1999, 8 November 2001. In each case, the scenario was as PP described above; cold N/NE winds, warm North Sea, large scale instability.

Thundersnow occurred on 29 December 2000 and again on 22 December 2003; similar setup, but colder temperatures. On both occasions, the thunder woke me up in the early hours of the morning, the 2000 occasion had whiteout conditions, while the 2003 occasion had thunder from a snowcloud drifting along the sea, following a heavy snow shower.

It is possible for thundersnows to happen in Tyne & Wear from easterly setups as well, with Newcastle being heavily hit by thunderstorms on 21 February 1994, a day of ENE winds and heavy snow showers. My weather records from Cleadon suggest that there wasn't thunder here on that occasion, though there were certainly heavy snow showers.

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Posted
  • Location: 4 miles north of Durham City
  • Location: 4 miles north of Durham City

One thing I have often noticed about these coastal thunder-snow showers; the cumulonimbus clouds associated with them are immense and just seem to tower straight up into a textbook anvil shape.

Edited by PersianPaladin
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Posted
  • Location: Leigh On Sea - Essex & Tornado Alley
  • Location: Leigh On Sea - Essex & Tornado Alley

Ahhh the 28th January, was at work in London, and was serving someone at about 530pm in the shop when the sky lit up a brilliant blue, and then the North Bank of the Thames dissappeared under a carpet of White, only lasted for about an hour but travel chaos ensued in Central London, by the time i got to Upminster at about 730pm it took me 1/2 hour to get out of the Car Park, and then another hour to make the 20 mile drive down to Leigh On Sea, so I got in at 9pm from leaving work at 6pm. But was truly a great event, the temp dropped from 8.5c to 3.5c in under 20 minutes. Had Thundersnow lasy year but just one flash during a Snow Shower.

Paul Sherman

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Posted
  • Location: Barnehurst nr Bexleyheath, Kent
  • Location: Barnehurst nr Bexleyheath, Kent
Ahhh the 28th January, was at work in London, and was serving someone at about 530pm in the shop when the sky lit up a brilliant blue, and then the North Bank of the Thames dissappeared under a carpet of White, only lasted for about an hour but travel chaos ensued in Central London, by the time i got to Upminster at about 730pm it took me 1/2 hour to get out of the Car Park, and then another hour to make the 20 mile drive down to Leigh On Sea, so I got in at 9pm from leaving work at 6pm. But was truly a great event, the temp dropped from 8.5c to 3.5c in under 20 minutes. Had Thundersnow lasy year but just one flash during a Snow Shower.

Paul Sherman

My daughter had chicken pox on that day, so thankfully I was in the comfort of my own home during that thundersnow event. Will never forget it - as I hadnt realised it could thunder during a snow storm before until that happened!

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Posted
  • Location: Sandhurst, Berkshire
  • Location: Sandhurst, Berkshire

Yep, remember it like it was last week!

The forecast for that day was for possible snow late on so imagine my disappointment as I saw rain on the kitchen window as I washed up at nearly 5pm. Suddenly the rain turned haevier accompanied by squally winds and thunder and lightning. Very soon the rain had turned to snow and it was white-out conditions, the first time I had experienced such weather. you really couldn't see more than 2' in front of you! Within the space of 30 minutes we had almost 8" of lying snow.

A very memorable event and definately one I can tell my children.

Ah aint the weatther exciting!! :rolleyes:

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
I hadnt realised it could thunder during a snow storm before until that happened!

Ironically, I remember early on in 1999, having a map of weather symbols, where they showed as an example a map of the traditional "northerly" type weather, with snow showers for northern Scotland and the east coast and clear elsewhere, and it showed a lightning symbol by the snow. My parents thought it couldn't snow and thunder at the same time.

They were proved wrong shortly afterwards...

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Posted
  • Location: sherborne, dorset
  • Location: sherborne, dorset

I remember one time in Feb about 2 or 3 yrs ago in Poole, Dorset, I was cutting my sons hair in the kitchen, it was early evening , It was snowing, but suddenly it became like blizzard conditions for about 20 mins - 1/2 hour, I saw some flashing, I thought it cant be lightning, I went out the back to look, and it was thundering and lightning, the snow was coming down so fast I couldnt see in the garden, Ive never experienced it before.

when speaking to someone about it they said it happens all the time in scotland.

Edited by lightninglass
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Posted
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)

Here's the sferics (lightning strike) chart for the 28th Jan '04 - when the active cold front swept South and brought thundersnow:

post-1052-1163862701.gif

Thunder and lightning is fairly common around coastal areas and over the sea during the winter when cold airmasses cross over - the warm SSTs help fuel strong convection. However, it is less common for inland areas to recieve thunder and lightning due to lack of insolation and the cold land killing any surface convection - but the 28th Jan '04 saw an active and sharply undercutting cold front with tight thermal gradient that was enough to create towering cbs and thunder/lightning overland aswell as the front swept South. The MO lightning chart for Jan 04 shows strikes inland:

post-1052-1163863083.gif

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Ahhhhhhhh jan 28th! What a fond memory. I was walking home this morning up the same road i got caught out in on jan 28th reminsing of the event ironically enough. i fully agree with SR about not knowing it to storm during snowfall. I was up in the woodland behind my house, 5.30-6pm walking dog (not my ex, though she was there 2 lol)

from no where blizzard conditions and snow so heavy and thick it was settling instantly. Then lightning which i assumed to be a emergancy vehicle on call, or trainlines.. until i heard thunder. I never got home so quick in my entire life.

Beautiful scenes though. Did Anyone have any pictures of that day???

Edited by Mr_S
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