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By Soo Kim
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Videos filmed around Buffalo in upstate New York have captured thundersnow, a rare and dramatic winter weather phenomenon that has emerged during a major storm sweeping across the Northeast.
One video, posted by Rich Pawlewski (@pawlew3), was recorded on January 21 at 9:54 p.m. local time in Marilla, New York, a town just east of Buffalo. The clip captures a heavy snowstorm rolling through the area, accompanied by lightning and thunder. Its caption reads: “Lucky to catch one of nature's most amazing phenomenon."
Pawlewski told Newsweek: "Thundersnow does happen in WNY [Western New York] at least once a year...it's just rare to get it on video because it's very random. During this storm, there were a few strikes of lightning during this snow squall..."
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Another video, shared by TikTok user @dewpointdoyle4, shows snow falling on cars parked along a snow‑covered road at night before a sudden bolt of thunder cracks through the background. The caption for the clip reads: “Thundersnow in #buffalo.” The video has accumulated more than 18,000 views since it was posted on January 22.
The videos come as another East Coast storm threat is expected this weekend, with "well below normal temperatures" continuing in the eastern half of the lower 48 states this week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
"Another blast of arctic air will spread from the Plains through the East/Southeast Friday into Saturday with more record lows expected even into Florida," the NWS said.
What Is Thundersnow?
NASA describes thundersnow as “one of the more dramatic and relatively rare weather phenomena,” defined as snowfall that occurs simultaneously with lightning.
The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), part of NOAA, explains that while thunderstorms are less common during winter, lightning can occasionally form within snowstorms. “Thundersnow can be found where there is relatively strong instability and abundant moisture above the surface, such as above a warm front,” the NSSL notes. It is also seen downstream of the Great Lakes during lake‑effect snowstorms, where cold air passes over warmer lake water and fuels atmospheric instability.
Sebastian Harkema, a researcher at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, led a 2024 study simulating the electrical dynamics of thundersnow at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS).
“Thundersnow is much more common than what we have historically thought, but is still relatively rare compared to lightning flashes in thunderstorms,” Harkema told the NCCS. He added that thundersnow frequently occurs in the eastern Great Lakes region of the U.S. and in Japan due to similar patterns of cold air moving over warm bodies of water.
Newsweek has contacted @dewpointdoyle4 for comment via TikTok.
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