Phillip's Weather Trivia: Which Happens First: Lightning Or Thunder?

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GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Spring is nearly here! We have already had 4 days in the 80s in Eastern NC in 2022. Warmer air means thunderstorms will be forming before you know it. In a thunderstorm, which happens first, thunder or lightning?

It can be hard to tell which came first during a storm since there can be nearly constant lightning and thunder, however one definitely happens before the other. Think it over and make a selection. See below to see if you are correct.

Lightning can be 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun. A bolt of lightning heats the up the narrow column of air it goes through like an explosion. The rapid heating then rapid cooling of the air column, produces a sound wave. That sound wave is thunder. So, lightning happens first and it causes thunder.

The sound of thunder can tell you whether the lightning struck the ground near you or not. When you hear the cracking sound before a loud boom, then the lightning was likely a cloud to ground strike (or ground to cloud). Thunder that just rumbles on and on is often a cloud to cloud strike. - Phillip Williams

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