Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1893 — The Distance of Thunder. [ARTICLE]

The Distance of Thunder.

Although lightning and thunder oceur always simultaneously, an interval of shorter or longer duration is usually observed between these two phenomena, which is due to the Tact that sound travels only at the the rate of 1,100 feet per second, while the passage of light is almost instantaneous. Based upon this fact it is an easy matter to tell at least approximately how many miles a thunderstorm is away. A normal pulse will beat about one stroke to the second, and by counting the pulse beats during the intervals of the lightning and the thunder the lapse of seconds is arrived at, and consequently the number of feet, which can be reduced to miles. For example: If thirty seconds elapse between the flash of the lightning and the crash of thunder the storm center is at a distance ®f 33,000 feet, or About six and a half miles. An almost accurate calculation can be made by using a watch with a minute dial.—St Louis Post-Dis-patch.