Many folks had an early wake-up call Thursday morning in Vermont and Northern New York as thunderstorms moved through before sunrise. Nearly 4,000 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occurred across our region.Warm, unstable air well above the ground paired up with ample moisture to produce those storms. Near the ground, a layer of cold, denser air remained — a stout temperature inversion developed as a result.That's why the thunder was louder, and traveled farther than usual. Think of the inversion like a lid, or barrier in the atmosphere. When sound waves hit that barrier, they do not disperse and wane like usual.Instead, they bounce between the ground and that inversion layer, which enhances them. That allowed the thunder to echo for long periods of time, and travel much farther than it normally would. This all comes after a coating of snow Wednesday night, with more flakes possible next week. Classic Spring across the North Country!