Why does the thunder from close lightning produce a BOOM and then a slow fade off? Why does it fade off instead of just stop? Conversely, why is thunder from far away a slow fade-on instead of an instant but quieter boom?

Question

Why does the thunder from close lightning produce a BOOM and then a slow fade off? Why does it fade off instead of just stop? Conversely, why is thunder from far away a slow fade-on instead of an instant but quieter boom?

In: 797

Answer 1

Not an answer so hopefully this doesn’t get removed but I live in Alpine NZ and when we get thunder it echoes through the hills, sometimes you can hear it for a very very long time.