Environment Canada's provided map shows just how many lightning strikes were recorded on Sunday in south east Saskatchewan.

Just about the last thing that comes to mind when thinking about a winter storm, is experiencing thunder and lightning.

But on Sunday in south east Saskatchewan, a rare occurrence happened when the perfect mixture of instability and energy combined to create what is being called a "snow thunder event".

"There were a number of strikes on the map, it's not completely unusual, but we don't see it very often in this part of the prairies this early in the season," Environment Canada's Terri Laing shared.

"The instability that comes along with this type of system, with this type of energy feeds along the branch and there was enough energy to produce these thunder snow events. Lightning can only happen in the presence of ice crystals and usually those are about 30,000 - 40,000 feet in the air, not right near the surface like we saw, it's quite unusual," Laing concluded.

Video Credit Mike Fowler in Carnduff.