Insider: Why you see lightning but hear no thunder
After the lightning always comes the thunder, right? Sometimes, we aren't able to hear the clap of thunder after we see a strike. The term people use to identify this effect is "heat lightning."
However, this has nothing to do with heat at all. Sure, lightning itself is incredibly hot, about five times hotter than the sun! The idea that silence after a lightning strike is due to temperature is just a myth.
What you're likely seeing is a distant thunderstorm, one far enough away that the sound of thunder can't travel all the way to you.
Light travels at around 186,000 miles per second, while sound only travels at roughly 741 miles per hour. That’s why you can always see lightning before you hear thunder.
In fact, if you count the seconds between the flash and the boom, you can estimate how far away the storm is, with every 5 seconds equaling about 1 mile.
According to the National Weather Service, lightning can strike up to 10 to even 15 miles from a storm. So even though you can't hear thunder, the storm is still active and potentially dangerous.
That’s why it's important to take lightning seriously, even when it seems far away. If you can see lightning, you’re close enough for it to strike. So don’t wait to hear thunder, when in doubt, head indoors and stay safe.
