Last night’s surprising Thundersnow rattled our windows and scared the heck out of our pets. The initial rumble was a startling sound that seemed to last for at least a minute and sounded like a cross between a huge snowplow crashing with an airplane.
Read Sutkoski’s whole article detailing the rarity of Thundersnow in the eastern US!
According to Matt Sutkoski in today’s Burlington Free Press,
Thundersnow is very rare, especially in Vermont, so it was interesting that it was so widespread. There was thunder and lightning here at my house in St. Albans, and people told me they had thundersnow in Colchester, Underhill, Fairfax and Littleton, N.H., so it was everywhere.
Check out the great video Sutkoski posted from You Tube of weather forecaster Jim Cantore witnessing thundersnow in Chicago.
I was on the phone with someone in L.A. when the first flash of lightening illuminated the mountains of snow. If lightening could ever be brighter, I can’t imagine when! I thought maybe it was the arc of a downed powerline. Then I realized it wasn’t snow plows I’d been hearing rumble through but thunder! Wild!
Now this truly is climate of a different color!
I remember at least one other thundersnow experience since moving up here in the late 90’s.
What I find funny though is this BFP reporter’s notion of “everywhere”: 3 out of the 5 places named (St Albans, Underhill, Colchester) are easily less than 45 minutes apart. “It happened in Colchester! and Underhill!”. Um, “it happened in Barre! and Barre Town! it was everywhere!”
The snow briefly turned to rain as we were driving into Barre to see the Chocolate Drops, but fortunately by the time we got out it had turned back to (wet, heavy) snow.
It tried (but failed) to kill the phone. Nothing else was affected, luckily. Grounding rods and lightning arrestors are our friends!
The first few looked blue. My wife and I were wondering if there was a cop car out side at first.. and then came the rumble.