How far away is thunder and lightning?

As lightning flashes in the sky, it causes a thunderclap. Light from the flash travels almost instantly to your eyes, but the sound of the thunder arrives a few seconds later. If you count the seconds between the flash and the thunder, you can estimate the distance of the flash of lightning: Every five seconds equals 1 mile (1.6 kilometers).

Lightning can be beautiful, but also dangerous! Thousands of lightning bolts shoot through our atmosphere every day.