Since sound travels at about 1100 feet per second at approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit, you would be 5500 feet from the lightning. But you would be closer to the storm because lightning rarely occurs on the edge of a storm.
If there are many seconds between the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder, it indicates that the storm is far away. Each second of delay between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder represents a distance of about 1 mile between you and the lightning strike.
To find the miles to the lightning, you can count the number of seconds between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder (time interval). Divide this number by 5 to get the distance in miles, as sound travels at about 1 mile every 5 seconds.
This delay of 5 seconds corresponds to approximately 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of distance from the lightning. Thunder travels about 1 mile in 5 seconds through air.
There is a delay between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder because the speed of light (lightning) is much faster than the speed of sound (thunder). Thus, you SEE lightning first, and then you HEAR thunder later.
To estimate the distance to a lightning strike, count the seconds between the flash and the sound of thunder. Divide this number by 5 to get the distance in miles, or divide by 3 to get the distance in kilometers.
To determine the distance of lightning, count the number of seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder, then divide by 5 to get the distance in miles.
The time it takes to hear thunder after lightning strikes is typically about 5 seconds for every mile of distance between you and the lightning.
To determine the distance of lightning, count the seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder. Divide this number by 5 to estimate the distance in miles.
If there are many seconds between the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder, it indicates that the storm is far away. Each second of delay between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder represents a distance of about 1 mile between you and the lightning strike.
Light is virtually instantaneous over any distance you'd be aware of a thunderstorm going on. Sound, however, takes five seconds to travel through air for each mile. If the thunder and the lightning are simultaneous, the lightning strike is very close to you. If the thunder is five seconds after the lightning, the lightning was one mile away. If the thunder is ten seconds after the lightning, the lightning was 2 miles away, and so on.
For a long time it was thought by many people that the number of seconds after the lightning strikes is the miles the center of the storm is from you. Although this does show how light travels faster than sound, this system is wrong. The actual method for finding the distance the heart of the storm is from you is by counting after you see lightning; and stop counting after you hear the thunder. Now, for every five seconds after the lightning struck until you hear the thunder, it is one mile away. So if ten seconds go by between lightning and thunder, the center of the storm is two miles away.
To find the miles to the lightning, you can count the number of seconds between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder (time interval). Divide this number by 5 to get the distance in miles, as sound travels at about 1 mile every 5 seconds.
This delay of 5 seconds corresponds to approximately 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of distance from the lightning. Thunder travels about 1 mile in 5 seconds through air.
The distance between you and the storm is approximately 1 mile away. This is calculated by dividing the time difference between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder (7 seconds) by 5, as it takes roughly 5 seconds for sound to travel one mile.
This doesn't really make sense because there is no specific time span between lightning strikes. The only thing I can say is that if the lightning is brighter, than it is no more than three miles way from where you are currently. And I'm not talking about altitude either.
Start counting when you see lightning. Stop counting when you hear thunder. Divide the seconds by 5. Example: You count 19 seconds. 19 divided by 5 would mean the lightning you seen was approximately 3.8 miles away. If you count 30 seconds or less, don't go outside.
Count the seconds between when the lightning flashes and the sound of the thunder. Divide the number of seconds that pass by five to get the distance in miles or by eight to get the number of kilometers. Note that this only gives you the distance to the bolt of lightning. The storm cell itself is probably at least a few miles across.