Robert E. Thomas Information Specialist 573-882-2480 ThomasR@missouri.edu August 13, 2003 MU researcher looking for spotters to help track 'thundersnows' this winter COLUMBIA, Mo. — It may be the dog days of summer, but Patrick Market is looking ahead to a cold, snowy winter. The University of Missouri assistant professor of atmospheric science has just received a five-year, $460,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to track and study snowstorms that include thunder and lighting. Market can use some help from spotters in finding such storms. Thundersnows are thought capable of dropping especially heavy, sometimes record, snowfalls. The storms are relatively infrequent and usually occur in narrow bands, typically less than 50 miles wide. "The technology we have to observe lightning is good only for cloud-to-ground strikes," he said. "In the winter, you don't always get a lot of cloud-to-ground strikes. A lot of them are from one cloud to another so you can't fix a location for them. "This is where people can help. We ask anyone who witnesses thunder and lighting during a snowstorm to note the location, time and date at and report it to our web page," he said. The Web page address is http://weather.missouri.edu/ROCS/particip.html. The report does not have to be made at the time of the storm, but it must be accurate, he said. "There are some fundamental things we don't understand about these storms that we want to try to nail down," he said. "Generally when you have thunder and lightning that suggests the vertical motion or updraft in the atmosphere is quite a bit stronger and when that happens, moisture precipitates out of the atmosphere." Just as researchers chase tornadoes, Market and his team will travel to sites with the potential to produce thundersnow. They will launch weather balloons to collect snow crystals to help determine the electrical nature of storm clouds. Market said he hopes the research will help refine the forecasting of these systems and provide the public more lead-time before a heavy snowfall. Source: Patrick Market (573) 882-1496 Return to Current News Releases College of Agriculture Food and Natural Resources AgEBB