Sarah Cheung, Storm Chaser: A Story of Unbridled Hope

Last year, when I was a lowly freshman and still an infant in my knowledge of things cold and snowy, the existence of a great and truly awesome phenomenon was brought to my attention. What phenomenon is this, you ask? THUNDER SNOW. Thunder snow is a rare meteorological occurrence that happens only in the most wintery and mighty of storms. It involves something about warmer, moister air at ground level and super super cold air on top, creating upward drafts of air. Then, you sprinkle a little bit of pixie dust, and SHABAM!! Lightning!! These conditions are very hard to achieve during winter, but in coastal regions or near other large bodies of water, the chance of the elusive Thunder Snow peeking out his magnificent head is higher because the storm forms over the relatively warmer ocean and moves inland into the cold, frosty fray.

It is my dream to one day experience this awe-inspiring beauty of nature, but I'm not sure Worcester could ever deliver. So! I will become a storm chaser, like Helen Hunt in Twister. I'll make out with my estranged husband in the eye of a tornado, but really the entire time, I'll be wanting to find Thunder Snow, and one day, in the dead of winter, my dream will come true. Can you imagine the snowy-white winter wonderland illuminated by an electric bolt of heat hotter than the surface of the sun?? Can you imagine my delight, seconds later, in hearing the subsequent muffled rumbling that is a baby sonic boom from the gods surrounded by delicate crystals of fluffy white snow? That, friends, is true ecstasy. That, friends, is Thunder Snow.

PS: If I ever have a sweet band, guess what the name is going to be!! THUNDER SNOW. Nobody steal that; I'll be sad.