[Karen W.]

Not ACORNing to The STALKer Girl who is  weeping away like a WILLOW for the LONESOME PINE...whom's branches hold her HEARTWOOD IN their Nimble leaves!

[Carolyn]

i suppose you all think this is a TREEmendous jOAK, posts such as this PLUM new depths. I suspect this STEMS from the good Doc.

How can YEW think such a thing!  [:0]

Anyway, if you look back through this thread I think you'll find it was Carolyn who started it  []

Oh FIR crying out loud!  It was yew that started it, my ELDER friend! []

[lyner]

so what determines the distance and does the thunder take place at the point of the furthest point away that the sound had traveled??

Karen - the thunder is just a sound that is produced by the lightning and you hear it later; you could just as easily ask, does the music happen  where the instrument produces it or in the ears of the listener.
The loudness of the thunder (i.e. where the listener is) depends upon how far away you are from the source but, also, on the terrain  and the wind direction (there was a previous post about the way sound carries in a wind). Another huge factor is the level of background noise in the vicinity of the listener.
Counting the seconds between flash and bang (3 seconds per km, approx) will tell you how far away the storm is. Lightning can be seen from vast distances, sometimes, when it is reflected by high clouds - especially at night, away from street lights.
When you see any phenomenon that you can't understand (just like when the car starts to go 'funny') it is a good idea to record all the circumstances; it helps a lot when an explanation is required from an 'expert'. I find great difficulty in identifying wild birds from the book, when I get home, if I don't write down some details at the time.
Age and the brain, perhaps.

[Karen W.]

Thanks I know about counting and all that, but was confused about the other..as I always thout the thunder then the lightening, but I must have it backwards! Eh?

[Karen W.]

I always thought that the lighting would strike you count and estimate by counting how many miles away from you the eye or heart of the storm was,, say it was 12, then that would mean there were twelve miles between the lighting strike and the heart of the storm! So that is not correct?

[dentstudent]

I always thought that the lighting would strike you count and estimate by counting how many miles away from you the eye or heart of the storm was,, say it was 12, then that would mean there were twelve miles between the lighting strike and the heart of the storm! So that is not correct?

Yes, this is mostly right Karen, apart from the timing. So when you see the lightning, start counting. It takes about 5 seconds for sound to travel 1 mile, so for your 12 seconds, that would be 12/5 miles or 2.4 miles to where the lightning bolt was. If you were only able to count 1 second, then the lightning was 1/5 of a mile away, or about 350 yards.

I can sometimes see the lightning from storms in the Alps. As sophiecentaur says, this would be reflected within the high clouds. There is no thunder because the storms are about 100 miles away.

[lyner]

What's that, Dentstudent? "350 yards and 2.4 miles" from Germany?

In Europe we use SI units and it is our bounden duty to educate the USA into the same!

One day we will have decimal time, too.

BTW, I wish someone wood preservers from all these puns.

[paul.fr]

BTW, I wish someone wood preservers from all these puns.

we will gloss over your last comment.

[dentstudent]

What's that, Dentstudent? "350 yards and 2.4 miles" from Germany?

In Europe we use SI units and it is our bounden duty to educate the USA into the same!

One day we will have decimal time, too.

BTW, I wish someone wood preservers from all these puns.

Yes, I know. i just thought it might help with the explanation first!

I'm off for a 250g steak! Hmmn, now THAT doesn't sound right!

[Karen W.]

Thanks Stuart and everyone..