All photos, video and text © 2008 by Storm Highway. All usage requires a paid license - see site copyright statement Early morning winter thunderstorms February 4, 2008 ABOVE: Lightning hits a mountain ridge over Belle, WV Monday morning. CHASE VIDEO: Lightning and thunder in Belle, WV on Monday morning: Watch Video BELLE, WV - While it's rare for lightning to happen in the winter in West Virginia, it's not really that unusual. I've seen lightning at least once every winter for the past several years. What I did find unusual this morning was the strength and frequency of the lightning, which was mostly of the intense cloud-to-ground variety that rivaled some spring and summer storms. I was awakened by a small storm around 5AM, at which time I checked radar to find more on the way. I drove east a little out of Charleston to catch the heaviest activity moving through the Belle-Dickinson-Chelyan area. cool - Posted by Yang Chow I think that it's a little crazy to see lightning in February. It's happened in my hometown two or three times in a single week earlier this month. I even managed to capture snapshots of one of those storms. The last time I remember seeing lightning in February was in 2003. And there's possibly some "thunder snow" headed to my hometown tonight. (It's a snowstorm with embedded lightning and thunder.) - Posted by Evan Popchock from Pittsburgh, PA Your Name:   Location (optional): Validation: Enter only the numbers colored in GREEN above: