Snowy storms barely noticeable

[RalphKastro]

my base is surrounded only by snow biomes. Because of that, there are never any lightnings during storms, and no rain sound, making the only way to detect storms is to look for some variation in lighting, which is becomes very hard to notice if the base is all lit up, and impossible if doing work on the inside of some building or hidey-hole.
I have already lost 4 gear boxes due to this, and am wondering if this is in any way intended.

[Dorugami]

The prudent thing to do would be to shut off the gearbox when not in active use, or if it is, to keep a close eye on the falling particles. Each biome presents unique challenges to settling there, a quiet storm for me is just another quirk - although I must admit I am of same mind that a raging snowstorm really shouldn't be quiet, I leave that to FC to balance as he has done admirably so thus far.

One other thing is that there are two phases of a storm, one where the particles start to fall and one where the lighting darkens. Damage can only be done on the second phase so shut off the gearbox at the first sign of trouble and grind another day to avoid losing those precious nuggets of gold.

EDIT: Correct me if I'm mistaken, but there should be lightning+thunder even when you're in a snow biome.

[RalphKastro]

One other thing is that there are two phases of a storm, one where the particles start to fall and one where the lighting darkens.

yeah, but since I tend to spend so much more time underground(specially in snow biomes, due to the slowness of walking outside), it's very rare that I get to notice even the normal snow.

EDIT: Correct me if I'm mistaken, but there should be lightning+thunder even when you're in a snow biome.

I've checked many times on both wikis and never read on either wiki anything saying it doesn't, so I assumed that it could and I just never saw it in vMC due to infrequency of lightnings and storms in general. But since I decided(more like "was forced to by the game") to make a base in a snow forest with snow plains all around, I have yet to hear a single thunder.