thundersnow

The recent wild weather has produced an unusual phenomenon called thundersnow. This happens when a cold front which is producing snow also has storm cells in it that are producing lightning and thunder. It happens when the air layer nearest the ground is warmer than the layers above, but still cold enough to produce snow.  One of the interesting effects is that the snow dampens the sound of the thunder which can be heard only in a small radius from the lightning. It is an extremely rare effect, one which I certainly had not heard of in Australia until now.