TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) -- Every Tuesday on WTXL Sunrise, you'll be able to have one of your own weather questions answered by Meteorologist Alex Cordero.
This week, our question comes from Jay Blanton, from Lake Park, Georgia.
His question: Why is lightning/thunder not as common in Winter as it is during other seasons?
It is all about instability and moisture. Instability is the ability of air to rise in the atmosphere. Surface heating helps with instability because warm air is less dense than cold air. As the surface heats up, the less dense warm air rises.
During the warmer months of Spring and Summer, instability and moisture are high enough to provide the ingredients for lightning. And many times, storms during these months can produce a lot of lightning.
During the Winter, the surface is cooler and there isn't always a lot of moisture present. While storms can still build up, they don't have enough of the ingredients to build as high as Summer storms, and because of this, they can't produce lightning as easy.
The diagrams above, from the National Weather Service, further explain the process of lightning formation. More information can be found here.
Remember you can send your questions to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or send them to ACORDERO@WTXL.TV
