Eli5: why is thundersnow so rare?
In: Planetary Science
thunderstorm clouds are very tall and shaped like an anvil. This is caused by warm air rising far into the upper atmosphere and cooling down. It’s generally not very warm whenever it snows.
At a very basic level, the conditions that allow a thunderstorm to form are less likely to occur at temperatures cold enough for snow to fall.
Because if it was more common weathermen wouldn’t get so excited about it, and that wouldn’t be as cool
For best results, the base of the thunderstorm has to be above freezing, and the upper layers colder than about -22C. This allows for the liquid/solid transition in the lower layers which in part creates an electrical potential. The other part is the -22C where super-cooled liquid transitions to solid ice, adding more potential. You see this where Cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds turn from lumpy/puffy liquid droplets to the fuzzy top of ice crystals. Enough potential and you get a electrical discharge within the cloud from high to low, or from high to surface – lightning.
If the whole cloud is ice crystals, it’s hard to generate enough electrical difference between the top and bottom.
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