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Lightning primarily occurs when warm air is mixed with colder air masses, [21] resulting in atmospheric disturbances necessary for polarizing the atmosphere. [22] The disturbances result in storms, and when those storms also result in lightning and thunder, they are called a thunderstorm.
The flash of a lightning strike and resulting thunder occur at roughly the same time. But light travels 300,000 km/sec, almost a million times the speed of sound. Sound travels at the slower speed of about 340 m/sec (depending on the temperature), so the flash of lightning is seen before thunder is heard. A method to determine the distance ...
Inversion thunder results when lightning strikes occur between the cloud and ground during a temperature inversion. The resulting thunder sounds have significantly greater acoustic energy than those produced from the same distance in non-inversion conditions. In a temperature inversion, the air near the ground is cooler than the air higher up.
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning [1] and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. [2] Relatively weak thunderstorms are sometimes called thundershowers. [3] Thunderstorms occur in a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus. [4]
If historical trends hold, deaths by lightning will peak this month. Typically, 32 people die every year in the U.S., most of them while recreating.
Heat lightning is a lightning flash that appears to produce no discernible thunder because it occurs too far away for the thunder to be heard. The sound waves dissipate before they reach the observer. [14] Ribbon lightning occurs in thunderstorms with high cross winds and multiple return strokes. The wind will blow each successive return stroke ...
The months of June and July have the most lightning fatalities with an average of six and 10 deaths per month in the U.S., respectively.
Thundersnow can occur during a normal snowstorm that sustains strong vertical mixing which allows for favorable conditions for lightning and thunder to occur. It can also occur from the lake effect or ocean effect thunderstorm which is produced by cold air passing over relatively warm water; this effect commonly produces snow squalls over the ...