Thundersnow Reported Across New England During Bomb Cyclone Snow
Bombogenesis is delivering the booms in Boston.
[10a] Coastal front is slowly eroding S/E across Southeast MA as precipitation picks up across the region; gathering reports of 2-3″/hr snowfall rates along w/ #thundersnow all the way N into Central and Northeast MA pic.twitter.com/insY0YyCnE
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 4, 2018
Bombogenesis so far has not disappointed, bringing harsh winds, whiteout conditions, and 2-3 inches per hour of snwfall to Boston. Oh yeah, and thundersnow.
Snowed-in people in Boston and around Southern New England have been reporting claps of thunder in today’s nor’easter, and so has the National Weather Service in Taunton.
Getting more reports of #thundersnow across SE New England; 2-3”/hr snowfall rates, gathering storm total snowfall totals already closing in on 8” pic.twitter.com/M0dttL0rjd
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 4, 2018
Among the more celebrated of blizzard events, thundersnow only occurs in the baddest of snow storms, and that is certainly what has arrived in Boston.
“You generally see it with very intense low-pressure systems like this, says NWS meteorologist Alan Dunham. “It’s just indicative of a storm that’s really continuing to strengthen and has a lot of energy with it.”
It can be dangerous, largely because when a storm is this strong you should probably be indoors, Dunham says. But typically the lightning doesn’t reach the ground and stays trapped in clouds, he says.
Going, going, gone #Boston; @BostonLogan reporting 1/8 of a mile visibility with heavy & blowing snow as well as vicinity thunder; wind gusts in excess of 35 mph pic.twitter.com/6IlVAtmyed
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 4, 2018
Meteorologist and known thundersnow enthusiast Jim Cantore has also reported strikes in Rhode Island and New York.
NASA spotted some of the booms from space.
Boom!
The @NOAA #GOES16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper continues to detect #lightning flashes in heavy snow on Long Island and Southeast CT. Here are two lightning flashes at 1354 UTC. #blizzard pic.twitter.com/6C3YTG3FXK
— NASA SPoRT (@NASA_SPoRT) January 4, 2018
