Up until a few years ago, I’d never heard of thundersnow.  Electrical storms are common in the Berkshires in summer, particularly during the hot days of July and August.  They’re often brief and violent with a heavy downpour of rain, gusting winds making even the tallest trees dance against the solemn gray sky, and a superb electrical display of lightning and booms of thunder.  A rainbow frequently follows as though Mother Nature is saying, “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it.”  Winter months are another matter entirely.

We have snow.  Sometime there’s a dusting to tidy things up a bit, sometimes it comes down seemingly without end.  Sometimes it just can’t decide what to do: snow, sleet, rain, wind, cold, not so cold, and today thunder and lightning, also known as thundersnow.

This morning I was relaxing, wondering whether the snow would stop or keep drifting down all day when I saw a flash outside the window out of the corner of my eye.  I had no more than thought about how odd that seemed when thunder boomed.  Thundersnow! 

I’d opened the back door and watched a steady snowfall for a minute or two when another bright flash lit up the sky followed by an even more enthusiastic boom.  The wind picked up and started to blow snow in my face, so I retreated indoors before the back porch turned into a snowdrift.

I’m no fan of winter, but it does have its moments.  Today’s storm with its thunder and lightning presented a moment of out-of-the-ordinary fun.  The wind that followed, and that’s still howling outside my house, is not so much fun.  It makes me happy to be inside where it’s warm and wind free, where I can count the days until spring (now down to 50) and plan which seeds I’m going to start first.

Have you ever experienced thundersnow?

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