Their vertical form causes individuals to hear the sound waves closest to the ground first followed by the sound waves from higher up. You may be asking “Why do lightning bolts make noise?” Lightning bolts produce thunder, but the thunder sounddoes not travel all the way to the observer if the observer is too far away. These silent bolts are called heat lightning. METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY If a lightning strikeis a sufficient distance from the observer, sound from the strike will not be heard. The heated air compresses then explodes outwards, forming a shock wave and creating a loud noise.
The heat from lightning causes the air around the bolt to reach temperatures of over 40,000 degrees Fahrenheit rapidly. Thunder, the sound that follows lightning, comes from rapid air expansion around the lightning bolt. These flashes are created by lightning bolts in thunderstorms that are more than ten miles away.Īnother reason no sound accompanies heat lightning is the idea that thunder travels much more slowly than light, and it’s unlikely to hear thunder from a distance greater than 10 miles. Another reason no sound accompanies heat lightning is the idea that thunder travels much more slowly than light, and it’s unlikely to hear thunder from a distance greater than 10 miles.įlashes of heat lightning are simply too far away for an observer to hear the accompanying thunder. The cracking sound of lightning is thunder, which results from the rapid expansion of hot and cold air masses. However, it is possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Thunder starts as a shockwave from the explosively expanding lightning channel when a large current causes rapid heating.
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