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Is it possible to have thunder without lightning, and vice versa? Thanks, keep up the good work.
Mark K.
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The answer to this one is no. You must have lightning to have thunder. So if there's a rumble of thunder, it surely came from lightning somewhere.
During a thunderstorm we hear thunder, we see lightning though with our own eyes. Sometimes we just see the flash, and sometimes we see monstrous streaks in the sky. Lightning is some seriously hot stuff, even hotter than the surface of the sun (not the core though)!!!! A bolt of lightning is about 54,000 degrees F. This mega heating of the air causes the air to expand very quickly. The expansion then causes a shock wave that turns into a big sound wave or what we hear, thunder!
Sometimes though, and we talked about this in a previous question, you can see flashes of lightning so far away though that you don't hear anything at all. But when you do have flashes of lightning around you can easily figure out how close or far away the storm is. From the flash to boom, sound travels at about 5 seconds per mile. If you see a flash, start counting, if you cound up to 10 seconds then you hear a boom, just divide 10 by 5 and your answer is that the storm is 2 miles away.
Remember that storms can move super fast, as fast as a car, so even if the storm is 2 miles away it can be at your house in a couple of minutes so stay inside and away from windows.
This week, is lightning safety awareness week where we like to remind everyone of their thundestorm safety rules. One of my favorites is to not use running water during a thunderstorm so this also means if someone in your house wants you to clean up the dishes but you have a storm outside, you have a great excuse! In all seriousness though, lightning is the biggest weather killer in Utah. Sixty people since the 1950's to 2005 have lost their lives from this type of dangerous weather in the Beehive State.
Here's some links to lightning facts and how to stay safe next time you see the sky light up.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
