Thunder

Thunder is the sound that lightning makes. It is delivered several seconds after the lightning itself, by the slower of the two departments, and has never once arrived first.^[1] Thunder is produced inside a cloud and is the loudest thing a cloud can do without raining.

Counting

The distance to a storm can be estimated by counting the seconds between a flash of lightning and the thunder that follows. In 1986 a man in a garden shed counted to 14,000 and concluded the storm was in another county. It was not. It had finished, and he had missed lunch.^[2]

Meteorologists recommend counting at a normal speed and stopping once the thunder arrives, or once it becomes dark.

Striking

Lightning is known to strike. Thunder has never struck anything, although it has been known to knock over a garden chair through sheer confidence.

Thunder is said to rumble, roll and clap. It is not clear what it is clapping for, and the most widely held view is that it is clapping for itself.

Dogs

Thunder is most alarming to dogs, who have never been told what it is. When a 1999 study attempted to explain it to them, 87% of the dogs left the room, and the remainder went under the table, which researchers recorded as “partial understanding”.^[3]

See also

• Cloud – where thunder is kept
• Rain – usually arrives with it
• Wind – usually blames it
• List of things that are loud – where thunder ranks

References

1. Rumble, R. (1986). Counting to 14,000. Storm Press.
2. Boom, B. (2017). “Why Is It Always Late?” Acoustics of Weather 9.
3. Bark, B. & Woof, W. (1999). “Explaining Thunder to Dogs: A Pilot Study”. Abandoned under a table.