If you look up in the afternoon during the monsoon, dark puffy clouds have usually formed to the east. These are called cumulonimbus clouds, also known as “thunderheads.” The clouds begin to form when the temperature falls at an incredible rate high up in the sky.
The clouds bring us our intense rainfall and dangerous lighting and thunder during the monsoon. They’re full of moisture and can contain strong up and down air currents. These clouds have the potential to reach heights of 50,000 feet and can cover up to 200 square miles.
We don’t always see lighting, but we know it’s there when we hear thunder. Thunder happens when the air surrounding the lighting strike heats up so fast that it causes the air to expand exlosively, creating a shockwave that becomes a booming sound wave.
The distance you are from the stroke of lighting will affect the sound you hear when it strikes. The closer you are, the more lighting will sound like a sharp crack. The further away you are, the more it will sound like a low rumble. This is because the sound waves reflect and echo off of hill-sides, buildings and trees. Depending on wind directions and temperature, you may hear thunder from 20 miles away.
A general rule to go by is the sooner you hear the clap of thunder, the closer you are to the storm. The best way to figure out how far from the lighting you are is to use the five-second rule. For every five seconds that go by, you’re one mile away from the storm.
So when you see a bolt of lighting, start counting. If you get to five and you hear thunder, the storm is just a mile away. If you can count to 20, the storm is four miles away, and so on.
