This makes a lot more sense if you remember that lightning doesn't travel in a straight line down to the ground; it can reach horizontally across the … Thundersnow, also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thundersnowstorm, is an unusual kind of thunderstorm with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain.It typically falls in regions of strong upward motion within the cold sector of an extratropical cyclone.Thermodynamically, it is not different from any other type of thunderstorm, but the top … Sheet lightning high up within the thunderheads, especially occuring during simultaneous heavy rain may produce thunder that is too faint or far away to hear from one's ground location. Thunder, snow, sleet and lightning: Even meteorologists admit this Mississippi storm was one for the ages 'It's not just rare for us, it's … Easily. $\endgroup$ – Jan Doggen Dec 24 '16 at 18:04 Ie. I have experienced this type of event a few times in the past. You don't need large contrasts in weather to produce rain or snow. Heavy rain or snow can muffle the sound of thunder and reduce how far the sound can travel away from the lightning bolt. A lightning bolt can travel a great distance. The air columns continue to vibrate for a short time, releasing the residual sound waves of thunder. Occasionally, lightning appears without a thunder clap because the sound wave occurred too far away to be heard. Because lightning can occur between clouds as well, and doesn't necessarily need to strike the ground, you can have thunder and lightning flashes at night from stormclouds very far … — Dottie Frazier, Calgary, Canada Dear Dottie, There cannot be. If rain doesn't arrive before the thunder, simultaneously, or shortly thereafter, a dry thunderstorm—and the potential for fire—is probably imminent. As with any storm, seek shelter if you're outdoors. A belief popular in the middle ages was that a class of demons that inhabited the sky, “caused tempests, thunder, and lightning, rended asunder trees, burned down steeples and houses, struck men and beasts, showered stones, wool, and frogs from the skies; counterfeited in the clouds the battles of armies, raised whirlwinds, fires, and … If there's thunder, there will be lightning, although the severity of the lightning can vary depending on the storm system. Thunder Folklore in Various Cultures. Thunder is nothing more than the sound of air rushing to fill a vacuum created by displacing huge amounts of air from an area all at once. $\begingroup$ Rain and snow without thunder and lighting is perfectly normal in many parts of the world. After being heated and compressed, the expanded columns of air shrink and cool down, giving off the initial "clap" of thunder. Strikes have even been known to occur 25 miles from the bolt's cloud of origin. Dear Tom, Can there ever be thunder without lightning being present as well? the clouds turn into a big battery and the lightning is a short circuit.