"Surface temperatures will be below freezing, allowing freezing rain and wintry precipitation. It might be in the mid-20s! But half a mile to a mile above the ground, 44 degrees. That warmer air upstairs leads to some "instability," or thunderstorm fuel, rooted at the mid-levels. So yes, thunder/lightning will be possible! I can't even rule out some pea-sized hail with some of the thunder-ice and thunder-sleet storms. There could be more intense ice accretion rates nearing 0.07 or 0.08 inches/hour during thunder-ice."
"The sudden extreme cold snap could cause to trees to explode in the midwest, according to meteorologists. It's because the water in tree sap can rapidly expand as it freezes, causing a tree's bark to crack and explode, sort of like how water pipes can burst when they freeze in an unheated home. Yes, this does actually happen, and the bursting sometimes sounds like a gunshot coming from a suddenly freezing forest."
Surface temperatures will be below freezing in parts of the central and southern U.S., while a warmer layer roughly half a mile to a mile above the ground creates mid-level instability that can support thunder and lightning within wintry precipitation. Thunder-ice and thunder-sleet are possible, with occasional pea-sized hail and localized ice accretion rates approaching 0.07–0.08 inches per hour. Heavy rain can inhibit freezing efficiency because latent heat release slows freeze-up. The same storm system and an extreme cold plunge could drive temperatures far below zero in the Midwest and Northern Plains, causing tree sap to freeze and trunks or bark to crack explosively.
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