NEW YORK TIMES
How Thundersnow Happens: With Considerable Difficulty March 7th 2018 By Kendra Pierre-Louis All of the East coast came to a stop when they saw the sky. Schools closing, disrupting travel, commutes, and inches of snow only continue to grow. This article is about New Yorkers and others on the east coast experiencing the world wide phenomenon “thundersnow”. This winter storm brought rain, snow, and frigid conditions to the North East. On Wednesday March 7th the sound and sight of lightning and thunder shook New Yorkers. This led to schools closing for the week due to the mass amount of snow (over a foot of snow). The chances of this occurring was very unlikely. Only 0.07 percent of snowfalls are accompanied by thunder. Thundersnow has been documented since at least the year 1099. Scientist have recently discovered what caused this rare phenomenon. “Warmer, moist air close to the ground rises and mixes with colder, denser air higher up in the atmosphere. As the hot air moves up and the cold air moves down, the atmospheric instability can trigger lightning and the thunder that comes with it. In the case of a thundersnow event, air closer to the ground is just warm enough to rise and create atmospheric mixing, but it’s still cold enough that falling snow can stay frozen. The air is cold enough down low that as the frozen precipitation falls out of it, it never encounters a warm enough layer of air to melt. So instead of rain and lightning, there’s snow and lightning.” There has been a very small amount of people who came out of this storm unlucky. A new jersey teacher was struck by lightning in the midst of a storm. As of now she is in the hospital with no life threatening injuries. Stay Safe, East Coast. In my opinion I think the thunderstorm is something that could lead to disasters but is something I’d like to experience. I love the snow but I’ve never experienced over 5 inches. Things like these are a once in a lifetime experience (especially if you live in California). Others away from the east coast (like me) view this situation as “woah pretty” and from what I’ve seen the Easterners just want it to end. I will comment on Andrew's and Elena's Article
1 Comment
Fernando Ramirez
3/9/2018 10:31:39 pm
Wow, what an interesting phenomenon! The conditions that certain climates have, can affect the outcome in so many combinations of ways. Do you think the lightning and snow is a more dangerous combination than lightning and rain? I certainly wouldn't want to be caught up in any snow storm much less one with lightning but I commend your bravery. Great article and analysis.
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