3 ms·

Is this "just" the sound of thunder? Or is there some other sound from a lightning strike, if you're very close to it?

zenexer 6y ago
Thunder is the sound that lightning makes, no? Unless I’m misunderstanding, the two things you’ve described are one and the same. That being said, if you’re close—really close—the sound does change. Lightning used to regularly strike a pair of trees just outside my bedroom window when I was growing up, since it was the top of a hill, and the trees were the tallest thing around, by far. Were my window open, I could reach out and touch the taller of the two trees. The sound is so loud and so abrupt that I’m not really sure how to describe it. It’s instantaneous—over before you realize that there was a sound. It’s not a steady, drawn-out rumble like you might expect. In addition to the overwhelming, deafening crack, sometimes I would hear what sounded like a scream or a whistle—but that was almost certainly just a sensory artifact and not a real noise. Other people in the house would describe different artifacts. I probably make it sound scary, but I always looked forward to thunderstorms as a kid, and each time I’d hope the storm would get close enough to strike those trees. It was absolutely amazing to watch—and, being a child with no sense of danger, I’d sit right by the window.
raincom 6y ago
Both sound and light originate at the same time. Light travels faster than sound. If you are close to a strike, the time gap between lightening and thunder is smaller.
Wistar 6y ago
I have been in a couple "close" strikes where the thunder was trailing the lightning by, maybe, a tenth of a second or so. Although they were several years apart, in both cases I distinctly heard—or maybe felt—a "pop" at the exact moment of the flash, similar to the sound of a high-power flash unit. Maybe it was my imagination but it was so distinct that I wonder if it was the sound of discharge from nearby objects, or … something.

Thunder is the sound that lightning makes, no? Unless I’m misunderstanding, the two things you’ve described are one and the same. That being said, if you’re close—really close—the sound does change. Lightning used to regularly strike a pair of trees just outside my bedroom window when I was growing up, since it was the top of a hill, and the trees were the tallest thing around, by far. Were my window open, I could reach out and touch the taller of the two trees. The sound is so loud and so abrupt that I’m not really sure how to describe it. It’s instantaneous—over before you realize that there was a sound. It’s not a steady, drawn-out rumble like you might expect. In addition to the overwhelming, deafening crack, sometimes I would hear what sounded like a scream or a whistle—but that was almost certainly just a sensory artifact and not a real noise. Other people in the house would describe different artifacts. I probably make it sound scary, but I always looked forward to thunderstorms as a kid, and each time I’d hope the storm would get close enough to strike those trees. It was absolutely amazing to watch—and, being a child with no sense of danger, I’d sit right by the window.

raincom 6y ago

Both sound and light originate at the same time. Light travels faster than sound. If you are close to a strike, the time gap between lightening and thunder is smaller.

Wistar 6y ago

I have been in a couple "close" strikes where the thunder was trailing the lightning by, maybe, a tenth of a second or so. Although they were several years apart, in both cases I distinctly heard—or maybe felt—a "pop" at the exact moment of the flash, similar to the sound of a high-power flash unit. Maybe it was my imagination but it was so distinct that I wonder if it was the sound of discharge from nearby objects, or … something.