What are lightning, lightning, and thunder and how are they different? When an electrical storm occurs we usually hear not only the sound of thunder but also the sky is illuminated with lightning bolts and lightning, so we now explain all these phenomena in detail so that you know what exactly they are, how they occur and above all what is the difference between them.
What are lightning, lightning, and thunder and how are they different?
Especially in the summer period there are short storms , but sometimes also of strong intensity, which in fact can even scare us. Since in this period the weather seems to be crazy, we want to understand something more about its origins and why storms marked by lightning, lightning and thunder are formed and how these can be differentiated.
They are still fascinating atmospheric phenomena to see , as they could resemble twinkling fireworks, but the peculiarities and properties of each of them are much more specific.
So let’s see what thunder, lightning and lightning are and how they differ.
What is lightning
Let’s first see what lightning is. It is an atmospheric phenomenon that involves a strong electrical discharge, which can occur in 3 different ways:
- within the same cloud
- starting from one cloud to another cloud
- starting from a cloud pointing to the ground
The time between one download and another varies from 5 to 500 milliseconds.
What is lightning
Once the lightning has started, it emits a glow that expands into the atmosphere, this light is precisely called lightning .
At first glance, it looks like a kind of wavy line from which small secondary deviations start in a zigzag at various points.
The length of lightning can reach 2 to 5 km when the discharge is towards the ground or it can reach 10-15 km when the lightning is released between two clouds.
What is thunder
Now that we understand what lightning is and what lightning is, let’s see what thunder is.
When lightning is concise, a sound is heard after a few seconds. That noise that is sometimes strong and close and other times more distant and less dizzying is the sound of thunder . The crash of thunder can be heard up to 25 km away.
The lightning, in its rapid journey, causes an increase in pressure and also in temperature that can reach 15,000 ° C and this creates an extension of the channel showing a roar that would be the sound of thunder.
To make a summary and finish understanding what makes electrical storms and what is the main and difference between these three phenomena we can say:
- Lightning is electricity itself.
- Lightning is the light emitted by lightning that can be seen.
- Thunder is the sound as a result of lightning.
