Dear Tom,
I absolutely hate lightning and thunder. It’s not fear; it’s just intense dislike. Is there any place in the world where thunderstormsnever occur? I mean never.
Bill Bosserman
Dear Bill,There are such places, but other aspects of the climate at those locations make them downright undesirable and even uninhabitable.The interior of Antarctica –bitterly cold (averaging lower than –50 (degrees) F), permanently ice-covered and intensely dry –is the Earth’s largest swath of absolutely thunderstorm-free real estate. Rain has never been observed at the South Pole station since weather observations began there in 1957; snow, but no rain.The interior of the Arctic ice pack probably doesn’t experience thunderstorms either, but they have occurred along and near the northern coasts of Alaska, Canada and Siberia.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
