This depends on the positive and negative forces in the clouds
By definition, it isn't a thunderstorm without those elements. Only one need be OBSERVED, because if one of the two were seen/heard, the other was there somewhere.
Yes. A storm must produce lightning in order to be considered a thunderstorm. It is a thunderstorm because of the thunder common in such storms. Thunder is caused by the lighting. The lightning going through the air causes an increase in air pressure and temperature forcing the air to move fast enough to cause a sonic boom which is the thunder.
The lightning. The speed of light is faster than the speed of sound. In addition, lightning creates thunder, therefore it happens first, therefore must be faster. See the related link for more information.
Thunder and lightning occur simultaneously. We often hear the thunder after seeing the lightning due to the distance between us observers and the source of the lightning. Light travels faster than sound, so we see the lightning first and hear the sound later.
Thunder and lightning both occur at the same instant. If you are observing them from a distance, then you perceive the lightning first, because the light travels to you much faster than the sound does.Lightning. Its ionization of air is what makes the boom.
thunder is the sound reaction caused by lightning strikes inside or coming out of cloud banks so you don't necessarily have a big storm first, but you must have storm clouds at least.
A thunderstorm is any rainstorm that produces thunder and lightning. They can sometimes cause damage but not always. A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes must produce winds strong enough to produce damage in order to be considered tornadoes. Only about one thunderstorm in every thousand produces a tornado.
Lighting always comes just before thunder because it is the heat of lightning that causes thunder. Lightning is seen when there is a discharge of atmospheric electricity in the clouds or between clouds and the ground. The energy from the lightning heats the air and causes a sudden expansion of the air (followed by a rapid contraction), which results in the sound called thunder. Since the heat of lightning causes the expansion that results in thunder, the lighting must come first. (see related link below) Because light travels faster than sound, an observer will normally perceive a delay between lightning and thunder. This delay increases with farther distance from the actual lightning strike. People will often count the seconds that pass after they see lightning until they hear the thunder. The shorter the time observed between the two, the closer the lightning is to the observer. - In English units, every 5 seconds of delay is about a mile in distance. - In metric units, every 3 seconds of delay is about a kilometer in distance.
Yes; light travels faster than sound. Sound is vibrational mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a wave and light, or visible light, is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye. Sound must travel through matter to be perceived by the human ear. Light does NOT.
No. The visual portion of the energy wave that we see as lightning it's self does not make noise, however this energy wave also displaces air. The air that is displaced by the negative and positive ion charge (that bolt we see) is often heard as a loud "crack" and the air that moves fast enough creates a sonic boom which we hear as thunder.
Thunderstorms form in the troposphere. The tops of strong thunderstorms may go into the stratosphere.
To estimate your distance from a thunderstorm count the number of seconds between a flash of lightning and the next clap of thunder. Divide your answer by 5. See the related link below.
First, look for a flash of lightning. After seeing one, count seconds. After research, I have seen that you can count seconds any way you prefer, like "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi," and so on, or "1, 100, 2, 100" and so on. Count whichever you like or other methods. They are both the same in time elapsed. Keep counting seconds until you hear a clap of thunder. Divide the number of seconds by five. The number you have is how many miles away the storm is.