By the mid-19th century, the accepted theory was that lightning produced a vacuum and that the collapse of that vacuum produced what is known as thunder. [7]

Apr 5, 2023 · Thunderstorm gathers another pool of positively charged particles. Negatively charged area in the storm will send out a charge. Lightning channel develops. It is invisible to the human eye …

Lightning is the precursor to thunder and forms within storm clouds through a complex process of charge separation. Inside a cumulonimbus cloud, strong updraughts carry tiny water droplets...

thunder, sound caused by a lightning discharge. Lightning heats the air in its path and causes a large over-pressure of the air within its channel. The channel expands supersonically into the surrounding …

May 15, 2025 · Thunder occurs when lightning heats the air to about 30,000 °C (54,000 °F), causing it to expand rapidly and create a shock wave. Essentially, at the moment of the lightning discharge, areas …

Lightning is the most spectacular element of a thunderstorm. Learn how lightning forms, how lightning leads to thunder, and about the types of lightning that occur.

Jun 5, 2025 · We explain how thunder is formed from lightning, and how we can use it to analyze a storm.

Jun 17, 2021 · The shock waves from the different forks of lightning bounce off each other, the low hanging clouds, and nearby hills to create a series of lower, continuous grumbles of thunder.

Thunder happens when the air surrounding the lightning strike heats up so fast that it causes the air to expand explosively, creating a shockwave that becomes a booming sound wave.

This rapid expansion and contraction creates the sound wave that we hear as thunder. Although a lightning discharge usually strikes just one spot on the ground, it travels many miles through the air.