why dose it not lightning when it snows?
151119
well it could...but not as much because there is less friction.
619162
Actually, it wouldn't.  There will always be a vapor as long as there is a sunlight OR temperature above 32F/0C.  Even of the rain that falls, much of it goes back into the air (notice a heavy humid feeling during and immediately after a rain?).  When it sleets or snows, as soon as the sun comes out the light works by being focused by the crystal structure of the ice and literally vaporizes the ice, going straight to vapor, skipping (for the most part) the water phase.  Water likes a balance.  When water is scarse in the air, water molecules on the surface fairly leap into the air, unless the air is crowded with them already.  Fascinating cycle.
1124272
It will snow when temperatures are at 32F or below and when their is sufficient moisture in the atmosphere.  It will hail at many different temperatures when the hail rises then falls, rises with air currents then falls when gravity overcomes the aircurrents.
242381
Lightning and thunder can happen while snowing, but it's quite rare.  It has to do with the fact that cold air holds less moisture than warm air.  The more moisture a cloud contains the bigger the storm becomes.  That's why thunderstorms are common in the warm weather months.  In the winter, less moisture is available which does not promote the forming of clouds that support thunderstorms.  However, with the right dynamics in the atmosphere, especially with nor'easters or lake effect snows, thundersnows occur.  Here in north central Indiana we had a thundersnow during an event that produced heavy snow a couple years ago.  I've only seen it once though in the 23 years I've lived here.
422900
My guess is that they can get bigger during a storm. I think the reason is this:\nWhen a storm is brewing, the warm and cold air cause the clouds to vibrate and the moisture in the rain-clouds begins to 'rub together' so crazily that it creates it's own electricity (just like when you rub a balloon on your head briskly, and then it will stick to the wall for a while, due to the static electricity created)and then comes the lightning - when the static gets too much...it needs to release itself and the only place is EARTH. This sudden release of a high-voltage charge will no doubt cause the cloud to dissipate - thus making a huge downpour of rain...and with larger RAINDROPS!
21003
Sleet freezes on the way down. Freezing rain freezes after it hits the ground, the ground must be below freezing. Sleet will not stick, but it will accumulate like snow.
439061
Lightning is electricity. When the clouds build up too much electrons and the voltage between the cloud and the ground is great enough to cause air to break down and conduct, you get lighting. Its like a spark.
266861
Hurricanes typically don't produce much lightning, but sometimes they can.\n\nHere is a website with some investigation about this.\n\n http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/essd16jun99_1.htm
1020854
HahAHaha.  Listen Shawny, these people seriously do NOT know what they are talking about.  But I do, you're talking about lightening without thunder!  Not lightening with thunder but it's so far away you can't hear it.  There is such a thing as lightening with thunder because it's been happening all over here in my area of Texas.\n\nAnd I don't live out in the country, I'm in good ol' Austin.  There's something mysterious surrounding this lightening, not just because there's no thunder, but because you know the lightening is the driving force of the storm and not the other way around.  If that's true, then this lightening must be coming from SPACE.  That's right I said it.  Lightening caused not by the clouds colliding with cold air but by something going on with the Sun.  Anyways, I KNOW this was coming from space because of this one special bolt of lightening that just rocked the house and I'll never forget it.  \n\nIt came down out of the clouds like an anvil, and when it hit the air it's like the air acted like and insulatoragains the electricity and stopped the bolt from coming down anymore.  Well it was THICK at the trunk and it spread out in every direction along the bottom of the clouds, like a ring of electricity or the roots of a tree, causing lightening far out across horizon as far as I could see.  That was just too much energy for me to believe that it was caused by clouds rubbing together, am I right?  Can I get an AMEN?\n\nAnyways, so you know where this lightening is coming from, but what does this have to do with heat lightening?  Well you remember that Earth has a natural electric field right?  Everything that exists from the ground up has a natural electric charge on it.  When the lightening comes in it's basically pulling electrons off of the Earth and pulling energy in.  When these travel through the plasma the air surrounding the bolt is of a way smaller charge and is repelled; this causes the thunder.\n\nSomething is going on in these storms and in Earth's energy fields that allows this energy to be moved easily and with little resistance.  I believe we'll be seeing more of this lightening in the years ahead, you can count on it.  BWahahHAhAhaaa!!!
913491
Well snow is white because it is a frozen sliver of moisture.We christians accept white as a sign of purity.Interestingly if you watch snow falling,no two particles ever collide(till they reach the ground)If you stand underneath falling snow and look directly up,the falling snow won't look white(try it)
514416
The correct answer is yes it can.\n\nIn a thunder or cumulonimbus cloud the warm air rises and the cold air sinks, this movement of air causes a huge difference in the electrical distribution with the top of the cloud having a positive charge and the bottom having a negative charge.  A positive charge also builds up on the earths surface.\n\nEventually these charges built to such an extent that there is an electrical discharge from the negative charge at the base of the cloud towards the positive charge at the top of the cloud and also down to the positive charge on the ground.\n\nWhat actually happens is that the first discharge travels towards earth in short but very rapid bursts of about 100 meter lengths - when you see jagged strokes of lightening this is because each burst can change direction.  As it gets closer to earth the strength of the electrical field intensifies until contact is made with the earth.\n\nThis initial discharge is only a weak stroke of lightening and is called the Leader Stroke.  As soon as contact is made there is a much more powerful stroke of lightening which travels from the earth back to the cloud and this is the lightening we see, this is called the Return Stroke.
170380
Not a common occurrence, but it certainly does happen...as it did this morning here.  Typically precipitating clouds in the winter are much less developed than summer thunderstorms, but occasionally more developed storm clouds do occur in winter and generate lightning (and thunder) just as they do in summer.  Expect a short and intense snowfall when it happens.
1044273
Well like all the others you need warm air to rise to create that warming effect. but on rare occations there is what is called Thundersnow which I have experiance a few times with major snow storms. There aint as much thunder as in regular thunderstorms but it still can be heard.
1170597
It takes time to transfer the thermal energy to the snow.  Snow also has an insulating effect on lower layers of snow, making it difficult to transfer heat there, making snow more persistent than would be expected.
96759
Some of these answers are good ones.  Clouds are charged, scientists can't agree why.  The tops of clouds are positively charged, the bottoms are negatively charged.  The negative charge at the bottom of the cloud repels negative ions in the earth's surface, which gives it a positive charge.  There are things called leaders and step leaders that seek out a path to relieve the difference in electrical potential.  As they reach out, then 'streamers' are generated on the opposing surface, like the ground, in response to the growing electrical field.  When these two meet this prepares the way for a lightning strike.  Usually this happens from cloud-to-ground, but it can also happen ground-to-cloud.\n\nOne of the best descriptions of how lightning strikes work can be found at http://science.howstuffworks.com/lightning5.htm
1030331
The clouds form when air near the earth's surface is warmed, causing it to rise since warm air rises. Think of a marshmallow in a microwave; as the microwave heats the marshmallow it begins to expand. This is similar to most things, like air. When air heats up it expands and this expanding air has to go somewhere because it is taking up more space, just as the marshmallow does, so this expanding warm air rises. Well, as the air rises it is losing its heat and cooling. When things cool, they condense; think of the marshmallow again as it cools when you take it out of the microwave (it shrinks, or condenses). In a general sense, to give you a brief idea of how clouds form, when condensation occurs, clouds take shape; you must keep in mind, however, that there is much more involved in cloud formation, but this was just to get you thinking and give a place for the lightning to happen.\n\nThe tendency of charges within a cloud is to have positive charges gather toward the upper portion and negative charges in the bottom of the cloud. \nWhen the difference between these charges is great enough to overcome the air's natural insulation, which keeps these charges from mixing, a lightning flash can take place. This charge difference builds up to millions of volts before the stoke of lightning takes place. The lightning bolt actually happens because nature tries to maintain equilibrium, a state of balance between all things. This is why the lightning that you see is a discharge of energy in the form of electricity. \n\nyea..thats the scientific answer to why it strikes...hope u can undertand it....i got it in skool\n\nas for how far away it is\n\ni learned that it comes from the "eye" of the storm or the center, && after the lightning flashes, count mississippi & the number of seconds equals a rought amount of miles you are away from the "eye" of the storm\n\nhope that helps
1123936
the lightning actually starts in the ground from static electricity...I always thought it was odd starting from ground...