MACON, Ga. — During the summertime, a lot of people swim in public pools. Sometimes, we were forced to leave the pool when lightning that we could see but couldn’t hear struck in the distance.
We casually called this type of lightning “heat lightning,” but heat lightning does not exist, and here’s why.
Heat lightning isn't produced solely on hot and muggy summer days. This is just lightning within a distant storm that is too far away to hear.
The light from the strike is reflected off of the clouds and into our eyes. The thunderous boom can only travel 10 miles from the site of the strike.
The Earth’s curvature can also prevent the thunder reaching your ear. Thunder can hit the Earth’s surface and bounce away from where you are.
Additionally, the speed of light travels faster than the speed of sound, so you are more likely to see the flash before you hear the thunder in any given lightning situation.
Now, when you go to the pool this coming summer, you can one-up your friends and tell them why heat lightning doesn’t exist!
That’s how your weather works!