It all starts inside a big, fluffy thunderstorm cloud called a . Inside these clouds, the air is moving very fast. Bits of ice and raindrops are bumping into each other like bumper cars.
If you count the seconds between the flash and the bang, you can tell how far away the storm is! Every five seconds you count equals about one mile of distance. It all starts inside a big, fluffy thunderstorm
You might notice that you always see the lightning before you hear the thunder. That’s because . It’s like a race where the light is a superhero flying at top speed, and the sound is a person jogging behind. If you count the seconds between the flash
So, the next time you see a storm, remember: it’s just the clouds' way of balancing out their energy with a giant, noisy "high-five." That’s because
When they crash together, they create —the same kind of electricity that makes your hair stand up if you rub a balloon on your head or gives you a little "zap" when you touch a doorknob after walking on carpet. The positive charges move to the top of the cloud, and the negative charges move to the bottom. The Flash: Lightning
The Spark and the Boom: How Thunder and Lightning Work Have you ever watched a dark sky light up with a giant flash, followed by a loud BOOM that makes your windows rattle? It feels like nature is putting on a giant light show! But even though it looks like magic, it is actually all about science. The Setup: Clouds Getting "Static-y"