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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L24812, doi:10.1029/2006GL028214, 2006

An investigation of thundersnow and deep snow accumulations

Christina Crowe

Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA


Patrick Market

Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA


Brian Pettegrew

Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA


Chris Melick

Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA


Josef Podzimek

Cloud and Aerosol Sciences Laboratory, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, Missouri, USA


Abstract

A comparison of 30 years of hourly surface weather observations (1960–1991) from first-order stations and 24-hour snowfall data from climate network stations over the upper Midwestern United States reveals an indirect association between the relatively rare occurrence of thundersnow (<1 event yr−1 in this dataset) and the accumulation of significant 24-hour snowfall (>15 cm) in 19 of 22 cases identified. Although no direct relationship is found between the location of thundersnow and the deepest 24-hour snow totals, significant snow accumulations frequently occurred in proximity (<1° latitude) to thundersnow events. The presence of thundersnow tended to indicate a parent extratropical cyclone capable of producing significant snowfall totals; should thundersnow be anticipated, the operational meteorologist can have much greater confidence in forecasting deeper snow totals.

Received 26 September 2006; accepted 21 November 2006; published 22 December 2006.

Keywords: thundersnow; lightning; snow.

Index Terms: 3314 Atmospheric Processes: Convective processes; 3324 Atmospheric Processes: Lightning; 3329 Atmospheric Processes: Mesoscale meteorology; 3354 Atmospheric Processes: Precipitation (1854); 3364 Atmospheric Processes: Synoptic-scale meteorology.

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Citation: Crowe, C., P. Market, B. Pettegrew, C. Melick, and J. Podzimek (2006), An investigation of thundersnow and deep snow accumulations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L24812, doi:10.1029/2006GL028214.