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Though rare, thundersnow
can pose a threat, says an MU atmospheric scientist. Photo
courtesy of MU Publications and Alumni Communication
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Rare
Snow Phenomenon
Researcher seeks eye-witness accounts
of unusual phenomenon.
By Jeremy Diener
People who see flashes of lightning and hear
crashes of thunder during a snowstorm this winter would be wise
to take notice, said a University of Missouri-Columbia scientist.
“Though they are a relatively
rare occurrence, ‘thundersnow’ events are capable
of producing record-setting snowfalls that can bury cities for
days,” said Patrick Market, MU assistant professor of atmospheric
science. “While our ability to forecast these events
has improved in the past decade, more needs to be learned to improve
public safety.”
Market and his team received a five-year,
$460,000 grant from the National
Science Foundation to track and study thundersnow. They have
already established a climatology – a profile of where,
when and how often these snowfalls occur.
Thundersnow events most often occur in a
loose arc across the central United States that includes Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma,
and extends into northern Texas.
From October through April, Market and his
team are offering two-day thundersnow forecasts for the central
United States on the project’s
website. However, to further benefit the research, Market
could use some help from spotters who witness such storms.
“The
technology we have to observe lightning is good only for cloud-to-ground
strikes,” he said. “In
the winter, you don’t always
get a lot of cloud-to-ground strikes. A lot of them are from one
cloud to another so you can’t
fix a location for them.”
Market and his team
are asking anyone who witnesses thunder and lightning during a
snowstorm to note the location, time and date and report
it by submitting a form on the project’s
web site. Click here
to submit observations.
The report does not have to be made at the
time of the storm, but it must be accurate, he said.
Market hopes the research will help refine
the forecasting of these systems and provide the public with more
lead-time before a heavy snowfall.
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Last Update:
March 12, 2007
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