If you count the seconds between the flash and the bang, you can tell how far away the storm is! Every five seconds you count equals about one mile of distance.
Nature likes things to be balanced. When the bottom of the cloud gets too full of negative charges, it wants to get rid of them. It looks for something with a positive charge to connect with, like the ground, a tree, or even another cloud. If you count the seconds between the flash
When that connection happens— ZAP! —a giant spark of electricity shoots through the air. That is . Lightning is incredibly hot—even hotter than the surface of the sun! The Boom: Thunder When the bottom of the cloud gets too
The Spark and the Boom: How Thunder and Lightning Work Have you ever watched a dark sky light up with a giant flash, followed by a loud BOOM that makes your windows rattle? It feels like nature is putting on a giant light show! But even though it looks like magic, it is actually all about science. The Setup: Clouds Getting "Static-y" —a giant spark of electricity shoots through the air
You might notice that you always see the lightning before you hear the thunder. That’s because . It’s like a race where the light is a superhero flying at top speed, and the sound is a person jogging behind.
So, the next time you see a storm, remember: it’s just the clouds' way of balancing out their energy with a giant, noisy "high-five."