When I was stationed in Egypt I often saw electric storms with a lot of lightening but no thunder at all. Why?

Answer 1

Thunder can only be heard about a max range of 12 miles (19 km) away under good quiet outdoor conditions so storms farther than that you can't hear the thunder. The reason is because the colliding air molecules that create the wave of sound slows down and loses energy kind of like if you roll a ball on the floor, the ball goes fast at first but loses its energy and eventually comes to a stop.

Regardless of whether lightning is positive or negative, thunder is produced the same way. Thunder is a result of the rapid expansion of super heated air caused by the extremely high temperature of lightning. Lightning can be as hot as 54,000°F (30,000°C), a temperature that is five times the surface of the sun! As the lightning bolt passes through the air, the air expands faster than the speed of sound generating a "sonic boom". Since the sonic boom is created along the path of the lightning bolt, in effect, millions of sonic booms are created, which we hear as a rumble.

Like all gases, when air molecules are heated, they expand. The faster they are heated, the faster their rate of expansion. But when air is heated to 54,000°F in a fraction of a second, a phenomenon known as "explosive expansion" occurs. This is where air expands so rapidly that it compresses the air in front of it, forming a shock wave similar to a sonic boom. Exploding fireworks produce a similar result.

1.When lightning strikes a shock wave is generated at each point along the path of the lightning bolt.
2.With nearby lightning strikes the thunder will sound like a loud bang, crack or snap and its duration will be very short.
3.As the shock wave propagates away from the strike center, it stretches, diminishes, and becomes elongated. Then other shock waves from more distance locations arrive at the listener.
4.At large distances from the center, the shock wave (thunder) can be many miles across. To the listener, the combination of shock waves gives thunder the continuous rumble we hear.

In addition, the temperature of the atmosphere affects the thunder sound you hear as well as how far away you can hear it. Sound waves move faster in warm air than they do in cool air. Typically, the air temperature decreases with height. When this occurs, thunder will normally have an audible range up to 10 miles (16 km).

However, when the air temperature increases with height, called an inversion, sound waves are refracted (bent back toward the earth) as they move due to their faster motion in the warmer air. Normally, only the direct sound of thunder is heard. But refraction can add some additional sound, effectively amplifying the thunder and making it sound louder.

This is more common in the winter as thunderstorms develop in the warm air above a cooler surface air mass. If the lightning in these "elevated thunderstorms" remains above the inversion, then most of the thunder sound also remains above the inversion. However, much of the sound waves from cloud-to-ground strikes remain below the inversion giving thunder a much louder impact.

Thunder from a nearby lightning strike will have a very sharp crack or loud bang, whereas thunder from a distant strike will have a continuous rumble. The primary reason for this is that the sound shock wave modifies as it passes through the atmosphere.

Sound travels roughly 750 mph (1200 km/h), or approximately one mile every 5 seconds (one kilometer every 3 seconds). The speed actually varies greatly with the temperature, but the thumb rule of 5 seconds per mile is a good approximation.

Answer 2

Lightning is the result of static buildup in the clouds. It doesn't require water vapor. In Egypt, lightning frequently occurs in dust clouds.
By the way, I haven't been to Cairo in years. How's the Khan El Khalili? Still the place to find anything and everything?

Answer 3

I have been told that lightening without thunder is "heat" lightening. I never persued the subject more.

Answer 4

I actualy had an argument with my girlfriend about this, but I am pretty sure that the lightning was probbaly a relativly weak bolt that was so far away you just didnt hear it.

Answer 5

i love the lightning, thunder, and the heady heady scent of the ozone. I exceptionally like it even as the lightning strikes close and one hears the thunder as we talk with the flash. The porch is a favorite position for the duration of a rain or a hurricane.

Answer 6

In all likelihood the storms were so distant that the sound diminished to the point that it was imperceptible by the time it got to you.

Answer 7

well, i'm aegyptian and i can tell you that this phnomena is bec. the black cloud of smoke that is over all major cities in egypt, that is why you hear thunder in open areas and farms.
:)
Best wishes: Omar.

Answer 8

Far away.