A 10‐Year Thundersnow Climatology over China

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, which likely induces great total snowfall depths, appears mostly in spring, autumn and late winter and can occur in high-altitude areas in summer. The blizzard probability on a thundersnow day is 12.7%. 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. Plain Language Summary Though the snowfall process is different from common rainfall processes that are accompanied by lightning, it can also occasionally produce lightning. This special type of thunderstorm is called thundersnow. It can induce heavy snowfall, which results in partial paralysis of modern cities. Electrified winter clouds may pose an aviation hazard. Although the frequency of thundersnow is low, it is widely distributed in China. Thundersnow can occur throughout the year, mainly in February-May and October-November. 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 variations of the thundersnow number are closely associated with extratropical atmospheric circulation anomalies. The climatological and atmospheric conditions of thundersnow in China that are revealed by this study help establish an important basis for thundersnow forecasting.