how far away is thunder if you can hear it
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- When a thunderstorm is near, the thunderclap is loud. and sharp. When its far away, it's a low rumble. Ordinarily you can't hear thunder more than 10 or. 15 miles away. If you see a flash of lightning and hear thunder at just about the same moment, the. storm is right above you. Thunder is created when a small amount of air quantity is moved very quickly. Objects create. sound when they vibrate.
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What is Thunder? If you’re nearby to a lightning strike, you may have heard thunder as a really loud crack, almost like the sound of a whip being cracked. But, most of the time we hear thunder as a loud, long rumble. In fact, the crack sound is the direct sound of the lightning near us, reaching our ears. The more common rumbling effect happens when thunder echoes off objects all around us. This happens a lot in towns and cities, where there are lots of buildings for the noise to bounce off.
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Heat Lightning a Myth? While heat lightning is really just ordinary lightning from a far away thunderstorm, the typical sound of rumbling thunder is muffled either by long distances or by a blocking, mountainous terrain. The cracking sound of lightning is thunder, which results from the rapid expansion of hot and cold air masses. 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. The distribution of hot and cold temperatures around a thunderstorm causes sound waves to be bent, or refracted, upward into the sky rather than toward the ground where an observer may be listening.
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Thunderstorms & Lightning 1 Lightning’s unpredictability increases the risk to individuals and property. 2  Lightning often strikes outside of heavy rain and may occur as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall. “ Heat lightning” is actually lightning from a thunderstorm too far away from thunder to be heard.
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- The recent hot weather has led to thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are short, sharp and shocking - for some literally. For if you can hear the clouds rumbling, chances are the storm is close enough to for you to be struck by lightning - it can strike up to 10 miles away from the centre of a storm. Count the seconds between seeing lightning and hearing thunder - if it's less than 30 seconds, there's a threat.
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- Outside 20 feet... the sound level in the water is probably the biggest danger. Lightning strikes generate up to 260 dB at 1 metre in the water (you could lose your hearing in one shot and the sound alone can kill fish). Even at 300 feet (100 metres) away this is still dangerous.
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Lightning Distance Calculator The delay between when you see lightning and when you hear thunder occurs because sound travels much, much slower than light. Sound travels through air at about 1100 to 1200 feet per second (our default is 1150). That is a little more than one mile per five seconds. This approximation will give you a good idea of how far away the lightning was.
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What is Thunder? This is what we hear and call thunder – the rumbling of thunder is simply caused by the vibration or sound of the air affected by lightning. If you’re nearby to a lightning strike, you may have heard thunder as a really loud crack, almost like the sound of a whip being cracked. But, most of the time we hear thunder as a loud, long rumble. In fact, the crack sound is the direct sound of the lightning near us, reaching our ears. The more common rumbling effect happens when thunder echoes off objects all around us. This happens a lot in towns and cities, where there are lots of buildings for the noise to bounce off.
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Truth Test | Can you count the seconds between lightning and thunder to determine distance? WICHITA, Kansas – We’ve all heard it before, counting the seconds between lightning and thunder determines a storm’s distance from your location. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four.
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The Science of Thunder The speed of sound through air at sea level is 758 mph (1,130 feet/second; 344 m/second) at 68° F (20° C). Thunder is exploding air occurring along the entire length of the lightning channel. An average thunderstorm produces thousands of mi/km of lightning channel during its lifetime.
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Lightning Distance Calculator The formula is to divide the number of seconds by the speed of sound in feet per second. The delay between when you see lightning and when you hear thunder occurs because sound travels much, much slower than light. Sound travels through air at about 1100 to 1200 feet per second (our default is 1150). That is a little more than one mile per five seconds.
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- Decibels and intensity, however, do not depend on the ear. They can be measured with instruments. A whisper is about 10 decibels while thunder is 100 decibels. Listening to loud sounds, sounds with intensities above 85 decibels, may damage your ears.
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Weather Library > Lightning Safety: The Myths and the Basics Lightning can reach far away from a nearby thunderstorm and strike ground. If you can see lightning or hear thunder, you are in an immediate danger zone for a lightning strike. Especially during the summertime, lightning activity can suddenly begin in areas of rain even if no lightning or thunder has yet occurred.
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Lightning kills more than hurricane or tornadoes. Lightning safety For example, if you see lightning and it takes 15 seconds before you hear the thunder, then the lightning is 3 miles (5 kilometers) away from you (15 divided by 5 = 3 miles, too close!). Do not resume outdoor activities until 30 minutes after the last thunder clap.
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Flash Facts About Lightning Although some victims are struck directly by the main lightning stroke, many victims are struck as the current moves in and along the ground. • If you can hear thunder, you are within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of a storm—and can be struck by lightning. Seek shelter and avoid situations in which you may be vulnerable. • Use the 30-30 rule, when visibility is good and there is nothing obstructing your view of the thunderstorm. When you see lightning, count the time until you hear thunder. If that time is 30 seconds or less, the thunderstorm is within six miles (ten kilometers) of you and is dangerous. Seek shelter immediately. The threat of lightning continues for a much longer period than most people realize. Wait at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder before leaving shelter.
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Can you calculate how far away lightning struck by thunder? ­As you can see, the speed of sound changes depending on the temperature and the humidity; but if you want a round number, then something like 350 meters per second and 1,200 feet per second are reasonable numbers to use. So sound travels 1 kilometer in roughly 3 seconds and 1 mile in roughly 5 seconds.
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The Science of Thunder Using the flash-to-bang method, lightning that has a 30-second count between the flash and the thunder is 6 miles (9.6 km) away. This translates into 5 seconds per mile (1.6 km). It is possible that the next flash of CG lightning may occur at your location.
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Lightning Safety and Outdoor Sports Activities Stopping Activities. In general, a significant lightning threat extends outward from the base of a thunderstorm cloud about 6 to 10 miles. Therefore, people should be in a safe placewhen a thunderstorm is 6 to 10 miles away. Also, plan’s guidelines should account for the time it will take for everyone to get to safety. Here are some criteria that could be used to stop activities: 1  If you see lightning. 2  The ability to see lightning varies depending on the time of day, weather conditions, and obstructions such as trees, mountains, etc.
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Lightning Distance Calculator This calculator is designed to give the approximate distance from lightning, based on the speed of sound. Upon viewing a flash of lightning in the sky, count the number of seconds until you hear thunder. The formula is to divide the number of seconds by the speed of sound in feet per second.
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What makes the sound of thunder? Does lightning make noise? Thunder can be heard up to 25 miles away from the lightning discharge. At these distances, thunder sounds like a low rumble because the higher frequency pitches are more easily absorbed by the surrounding environment, and the sound waves set off by the lightning discharge have different arrival times.
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Thunder: Lightning's Sound Waves You can use thunder to calculate how far away a lightning strike is. When you see the flash, count the seconds until you hear the thunder. Divide the seconds by five (5), and that will be the distance in miles to the strike. For instance, thunder heard 10 seconds after the lightning means the lightning struck 2 miles away.
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Thunder Therefore, the lightning is approximately one kilometer distant for every 3 seconds that elapse between the visible flash and the first sound of thunder (or one mile for every 5 seconds). In the same five seconds, the light could have traveled the Lunar distance four times.
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Is there such a thing as heat lightning? No there is not, Heat Lightning is really just lightning in a distant storm. The reason you can't hear it is because the sound of thunder can travel approximately 25 miles. … When light can travel a lot farther. The reason you can see the lightning sometimes from far far away is because the light can reflect off of dust or aerosol particles in the air.
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There's A Place On Earth That Experiences 1.2 Million Lighting Strikes A Year The storm occurs at such a distance from the observers, some 30-60 miles (50-100 km) from Lake Maracaibo, that the thunder cannot be heard. It is rare to be able to hear thunder if you are located 15 miles (25 kms) or more from the lightning strike. The Catatumbo lightning has also cropped up in history a few times.