Why does it seldom thunder in winter? Is it because the temperature is low?

Thunder is a natural phenomenon, which is mainly caused by the charge carried by cumulonimbus clouds, which is discharged when it reaches a certain condition.

The top of cumulonimbus clouds is generally high, and the height can reach 20 kilometers. Because of the low air temperature, there are often ice crystals at the top of clouds. In the case of water droplets breaking and air convection on cumulonimbus clouds, charges will be generated in the clouds. Cumulonimbus cloud has become a large charged mass, and the distribution of charges in the cloud is also very complicated, but generally speaking, the upper part of the cloud is positively charged and the lower part is negatively charged.

So there is a potential difference between the upper and lower parts of the cloud. When the temperature difference between the upper and lower parts is large, air convection occurs, and when the potential difference reaches a certain level, discharge occurs, which is the lightning phenomenon. The voltage of lightning is very high, which can reach about 1 billion to 1 billion volts.

In the process of discharge, the temperature in the lightning channel suddenly rises, and the air volume expands rapidly, producing shock waves and strong lightning. Lightning always strikes before thunder, that is, the two are usually accompanied at the same time, because light and sound travel at different speeds, which makes people feel that lightning strikes before thunder.

It rains in winter with cumulonimbus clouds. Why does it seldom thunder?

Because there must be certain conditions for the formation of thunderstorm clouds, first of all, there must be enough water vapor in the air, there must be power to make wet air rise, and the air must be able to produce strong convection. In spring and summer, because the air is generally humid and sultry, and the sun is very hot, the air near the ground is constantly heated, and the cold air at high altitude sinks, which makes it easier to form strong air convection, so there are more thunderstorms in summer.

In winter, the air is dry and the sun generates less heat. There is little temperature difference between the air at high altitude and the air near the ground, so it is not easy to produce strong air convection, thus losing the conditions for the formation of thunderstorms, so it rarely thunders in winter.

The occurrence of thunderstorms does not depend on temperature, but on the temperature difference between the upper and lower temperature distributions. That is to say, if the temperature difference between upper and lower reaches a certain value in winter, strong convection can also be formed in the air, resulting in thunder, but this situation is relatively rare in China.