I thought “thunder snow” must have been a typo in the National Weather Service “Urgent – Winter Service Message” that came out this afternoon. But, no, “thunder snow” is basically a thunder storm with snow instead of rain.
Blizzard of ’93 (“Storm of the Century”) anyone? Yup, that was a thunder snow. Even Birmingham, AL received over a foot of snow in some areas. I remember our power was out for days! My parents still have tire chain track marks in their drive way from my dad trying to back out of the driveway in his little pickup truck with tire chains (from West Virginia) – he was only able to back up a couple inches because the snow was so deep!
I’m sure it won’t be that bad here in MN since they have lots of snow clearing equipment, but I’m sure it will cause lots of traffic delays on the roads and at the airport Thursday evening and Friday.
We really came up at just the right time to get to see two big snowfalls in two weeks! I’m not being sarcastic either. We were pretty disappointed that we didn’t get to see a big snowfall when we were here in Jan-Feb for four weeks. And it’s not like I really have to go anywhere this weekend (except maybe the big 2008 Tax Cut Rally in St. Ron Paul this Sat.)
Plus, I did buy a nice ice scraper this week that I’ve been wanting to try out. I’d hate to waste $3 on that thing and never use it. Even if I never scrape ice with it, it’s worth having in the car to use as a burglar-beating weapon like this Iowa woman did on Monday.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Cedar Rapids police say a woman chased down a burglar, bagged him with an ice scraper and then made him pick up the stolen loot he dropped when he fled.
Here’s a home video of a thunder snow in Massachusetts. Is that really someone standing out in the middle of the storm?
The National Science Foundation even gave a University of Missouri researcher a $460,000 grant to find out when and why they occur. This USAToday piece discuss the research.
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
402 PM CDT WED APR 9 2008
…HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS WITH SIGNIFICANT LATE-SEASON ACCUMULATIONS LIKELY ACROSS THE REGION THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT…
.A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHANHASSEN FOR A PORTION OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. THE WARNING BEGINS AT 1 PM FOR MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA INCLUDING THE COMMUNITIES OF APPLETON…HUTCHINSON…REDWOOD FALLS…AND ST. CLOUD. THE WARNING BEGINS AT 7 PM FURTHER TO THE NORTH IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA…INCLUDING ALEXANDRIA…LITTLE FALLS…AND MORA. THE WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF THIS IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MINNESOTA AND THE U.S. HIGHWAY 8 CORRIDOR IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. THE WATCH INCLUDES FAIRMONT…LADYSMITH…RICE LAKE…AND THE TWIN CITIES METROPOLITAN AREA. A WINTER WEATHER HEADLINE WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED LATER TONIGHT OR THURSDAY FOR THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN.
A SIGNIFICANTLY HEAVY SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA BEGINNING THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND IS BECOMING MORE LIKELY ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION. THE SNOW MAY INITIALLY BEGIN AS OR BE MIXED WITH RAIN…HOWEVER A TRANSITION TO A WET HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED BY THE MIDDLE OF THURSDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THERE REMAINS UNCERTAINTY ON EXACT PRECIPITATION TYPE DURING THE AFTERNOON IN PORTIONS OF EASTERN AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA…INCLUDING THE TWIN CITIES. HOWEVER…THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BE ALL SNOW BY THURSDAY EVENING. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO EVOLVE NORTH AND EASTWARD ENCOMPASSING ALL OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN DURING THE EVENING. THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD LAST THE BETTER PART OF THURSDAY NIGHT AS WELL AS FRIDAY…WITH THE PRIMARY TYPE BEING SNOW. THE ATMOSPHERE APPEARS CONDUCIVE FOR THE SNOWFALL RATES TO BE HEAVY AT TIMES…INCLUDING WITHIN THUNDER SNOW. BY FRIDAY NIGHT…SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF AT LEAST A HALF FOOT ARE ANTICIPATED IN THE WARNING AREA WITH SIGNIFICANTLY MORE ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE. WITHIN THE WATCH AREA…SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF SIX INCHES OR MORE IS BECOMING INCREASING LIKELY.
IN ADDITION TO THE SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS AND THE HEAVY SNOWFALL RATES…GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS MAY LEAD TO BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW…PRIMARILY IN RURAL OPEN AREAS.
THE HEAVY SNOW IS IN RESPONSE TO A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS THURSDAY TO WISCONSIN ON FRIDAY NIGHT.
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW… SLEET…AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. CONSIDERING THE LATE SEASON NATURE OF THIS STORM…ENSURE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE STILL PREPARED FOR WINTER WEATHER.