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[MIS24-05] A 10-Year Thundersnow Climatology Over China
Keywords:thundersnow, snow, lightning, blizzard, Arctic Oscillation
Lightning tends to occur in warm-season thunderstorms, which may be accompanied by heavy rain, hail, tornadoes, and possible severe weather. However, snowstorms during the cold season can also occasionally produce lightning. This type of thunderstorm is generally called a thunder snowstorm or thundersnow. It can induce heavy snowfall, which results in partial paralysis of modern cities. Electrified winter clouds may pose an aviation hazard. Therefore, thundersnow warrants the same amount of attention as warm-season thunderstorms. Thundersnow is a special kind of thunderstorm that combines snowfall and lightning. A 10-year thundersnow climatology over China was obtained based on observations during 2008–2017. Our results show that thundersnows are widely distributed in China, and most of the high-frequency areas are located in the Tibetan Plateau and northeastern China. The average frequency of thundersnow decreases with decreasing altitude, and thundersnow usually occurs at low-altitude stations once every 10 years. Thundersnow appears mostly in spring, autumn and late winter and can occur in high-altitude areas in summer. Thundersnow events increase the probability of blizzards, especially in the Shandong Peninsula in spring, North China and the Changbai Mountain in autumn, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin and Bohai Rim in winter. The percentage of positive cloud-to-ground lightning of winter thundersnow is approximately 20.7%, which is lower than those in other seasons. The negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation and anomalous western North Pacific anticyclone are favorable background conditions for thundersnow events. The climatological and atmospheric conditions of thundersnow in China that are revealed by this study help establish an important basis for thundersnow forecasting.