Why is some thunder a sudden loud bang (with minor echos), while other times it’s a long drawn-out roll that goes on & on? Is it simply how close I am to the lightning, or is there more to it?
In: Physics
Could also be the orientation of the lightning with respect to you…consider if it is 10 miles away and the lightning is cloud-to-ground (vertical) say 2 miles high….the sound from it pretty much arrives where you are all at once.
Now consider it is horizontal intracloud lightning, and one end is 2 miles from you, and the other end is 20 miles from you. The delay from the far end is a lot longer than the delay from the near end.
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