Why does lightning rarely happen during snow storms?

Nearly every summer rainstorm comes with thunder and lightning. Yet during even the blusteriest blizzard, there's nary a spark in the air. read more

Lightning happens when the air rises so fast that static electricity charges the cloud. To obtain that, we need very large difference of temperature between the ground level and the top of the troposphere. read more

There does not specifically have to be a storm for lightning to occur; lightning is the zeroing of an enormous static electrical charge differential accumulated between two points in the sky or ground. read more

However this does not occur every time it snows only in very strong snow storms and blizzards with a deepening low pressure system. Lighting can, though rarely, in the winter strike the ground so it is possible to get struck in the winter. read more

Upward and downward motions in ordinary snowstorms are rather gentle. The exception is lake-effect snow, where the clouds are created by heating of air moving over relatively warm lakes. Lake-effect snowstorms have narrow clouds shaped more like ordinary thunderstorms, and actually sometimes develop thunder and lightning. read more