Lightning/Thunder Delay

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

at the point of impact, the lightning happens first, the sound is secondary. so if you hear thunder, there's already lightning somewhere (which I know all of you know)

Technically untrue, but the point is the same. If you hear it, it exists somewhere.

(At "the point of impact", or more correctly at the point where the discharge originates, the light and sound occur simultaneously. As you increase distance from this point, the difference between light and sound becomes more apparent, as the speed of light is way faster than the speed of sound, and much of the sound is echo, not initial, sound.)