What does thunder mean when it snows? Is it a good sign or a bad sign?

In ancient times, the weather often indicated the harvest of crops in the coming year. If there were some very special and rare weather conditions, the next year would definitely be very different. So what does thunder on a snowy day mean? Is it a good omen or a bad omen?

What does thunder mean when it snows?

Thunder on a snowy day indicates a bad harvest and people will freeze to death, which is a very bad omen.

【Folk saying】

As the saying goes, "When there is thunder and snow, people will eat iron" and "When there is thunder in winter, nine out of ten cattle sheds will be empty." Therefore, thunder on a snowy day is a bad omen and extreme weather. It will not only affect the harvest of the following year, but also when there is thunder in winter, the warm and humid air is very active, the cold air is also very strong, the weather is gloomy and cold, and there is a lot of ice and snow, and even cattle may be frozen to death. This strange natural phenomenon indicates that the coming year will be a year of poor harvest, or even a total loss of harvest, and people will have no food to eat.

【Scientific statement】

Thundersnow is a natural climate phenomenon, which means thunder occurs on a snowy day. The local temperature is often above 0℃, the humidity is high, and there is the influence of strong cold air. When the strong cold air comes into contact with the relatively warm and humid air near the ground, the lighter warm and humid air is violently lifted, resulting in unstable stratification and the formation of thunderclouds. Moreover, the temperature of the lifted thunderclouds is below 0℃, so there will be snow and thunder weather phenomena.

How is thundersnow formed?

Thundersnow, also known as thunder in winter in China, is a type of severe convective weather that occurs in winter with snow and thunder.

1. After entering winter, the temperature in a certain area is relatively warm, and the warm and humid air is relatively abundant. When the cold air moves south, it intersects with the warm air mass. The drastic temperature difference will cause the warm and humid air flow to rise rapidly, intensify convection, and form thunderstorm clouds. At the same time, air with high humidity will cause rain and snow in winter, resulting in thunder and snow. When thundersnow occurs, the snowfall is generally heavy, ranging from heavy snow to blizzard.

2. The occurrence of thundersnow requires suitable atmospheric conditions. The dry and cold upper layer and the warm and humid lower layer are the large-scale background for the occurrence of this phenomenon. Generally speaking, snowfall requires three conditions to be met:

①Sufficient water vapor;

② There must be a large number of ice crystal nuclei in the atmosphere to facilitate the attachment of water vapor;

③The temperature near the ground is generally lower than 4℃.

3. Lightning is the discharge phenomenon that occurs within a thundercloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. Thundersnow weather may occur as long as the conditions for snowfall and thunderstorms are met at the same time. This requires that the atmosphere has unstable stratification conditions, there is a large temperature difference between the high and low layers, and the air will form convection.

4. Inside the cloud, convection causes precipitation particles to collide and rub against each other, becoming charged. Negatively charged particles accumulate at the base of the cloud, while smaller, positively charged particles move up to the top of the cloud.

5. The clouds accumulate enough electrical energy, some of which is released in the form of lightning.