What Is Thundersnow?

Chicago knows its snow, and we've been known to get a lot.

On Thursday, during the first potential snowfall since March, the area could get something more: thundersnow.

Thundersnow? Yeah, the term doesn't get thrown around a lot because it's a rare event.

Check out the video at the bottom of this post to understand just how stoked meteorologists get about this phenomenon. The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore reacts to hearing some during the Chicago Blizzard of 2011. 

NBC Chicago meteorologist Alicia Roman likens it to a thunderstorm that pours snow instead of rain. That means we could see a burst of snow and a lot of it.
 
Roman said several dynamics are involved to produce this, namely a warm surface temperature, cold air high in the atmosphere and enough strong wind to move all that warm, moist air skyward really fast.

Thursday's storm could have all three.

Roman says thundersnow usually occurs in late winter and early spring when ground temperatures are warming up. Chicago temperatures have dipped below the typical 33-degree high and have more consistently been in the 40s, providing the warm ground conditions for thundersnow.

Stay tuned to NBC 5 and NBCChicago.com for the latest on Thursday's storm.
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