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?

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Answer 1

With close thunder, you mostly get a loud sound with reverb (or minor, overlapping echoes that sort of extend out the original sound). This fades away over time.

Distant thunder, however, gets some really complicated stuff with how over very large distances and with very loud sounds different sounds will have a different reverb spread that will fade in and out and almost all of the sound energy will be reverb. Suffice to say, you’ll get most of the early part of what you hear being a bit higher pitch which doesn’t stay as loud after traveling before the low end that will keep its energy over vast distances hits.