When lightning occurs and creates thunder you see the lightning immediately because light travels so fast (abot 186,000 miles per second). But sound travels much slower so you don't hear the thunder until several seconds after it occurs. I believe the approximate rule that is used is sound travels about 1 mile in 5 seconds. So if it is 15 seconds before you hear the thunder then the storm is about 3 miles away.
Sound travels around 1100 ft/sec, so every 5 seconds is about a mile away.
(or every 3 seconds is a kilometer)
This is not reliable for close distances, because you may hear thunder from a bolt apparently a distance away, but you are actually hearing it at a substantial altitude as well. Counting only tells you how far you are from the bolt in a straight line, and it may have been travelling away from you, while the next bolt may be travelling toward you.
approximately 3 seconds per Km so just over 3 Km
Ignoring the time it takes for the light to reach you, 3.4 kilometres or 2.1 miles.
well if you use the 1 second per mile method it's about 10 miles but not exactly 10 miles
Approximately 2.5 miles. Every 4 second delay is the equivalent of one mile.
100 MILES AWAY 1 SEC.= 7 MILE
Ten miles
2 miles.
thunderstorm
then the lightning is 2.78 miles away from you.
-- Count seconds between the flash of lightning and the thunder -- Divide by 5. -- The result is the number of miles between you and the lightning
If you hear the thunder almost at the same time as the lightning flash - the storm is directly overhead. Usually - the sound of thunder arrives a few seconds after the lightning, because light travels much faster than sound.
the lightning is roughly a mile away
thunderstorm
thunderstorm
Thunder - is the result of a lightning flash. The flash causes the surrounding air to move away from the source at 300 metres/second. An approximate calculation for the relationship between the lightning flash to hearing the thunder, is 5 seconds per mile.
then the lightning is 2.78 miles away from you.
The next time theres a thunderstorm, try a little experiment with sound. Try to time how long it takes distant sounds to reach you. From the safety of our home, count the seconds between the time you see a flash of lightning and the time you hear the noise of the thunder.
-- Count seconds between the flash of lightning and the thunder -- Divide by 5. -- The result is the number of miles between you and the lightning
If you hear the thunder almost at the same time as the lightning flash - the storm is directly overhead. Usually - the sound of thunder arrives a few seconds after the lightning, because light travels much faster than sound.
the lightning is roughly a mile away
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.
Heat lightning is lightning from a distant thunderstorm. Because of the great distance, you never hear the thunder, and usually do not see the bolt, but rather a flash in distant clouds. It is usually seen at night.
No. Lighting produces a flash. Thunder is the sound the lightning produces.
Lightning is known as a bright flash of electricity produced by a thunderstorm.