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Counted Out

I remember being told that when you see a flash of lightning and start counting until you hear the thunderclap, the number you have counted to will amount to the number of miles distant the storm is. Is this true? If not, is there any way of calculating the distance based on the observed time difference between lightning and thunder?

22 August 2018

I remember being told that when you see a flash of lightning and start counting until you hear the thunderclap, the number you have counted to will amount to the number of miles distant the storm is. Is this true? If not, is there any way of calculating the distance based on the observed time difference between lightning and thunder?

Alice Catling, London, UK

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