History Main / InstantThunder

In RealLife, thunder is the sound caused by a lightning strike. It has a delay because sound travels slower than light, and so the farther away the lightning strikes, the longer it takes for the thunder to arrive.[[note]] Every five seconds is approximately a one mile distance between you and the lighting bolt.[[/note]] If you do manage to hear thunder at the same time you see a lightning flash, it must probably mean that [[OhCrap you're inside the eye of the storm]]. Ball lightning is an exception, however it is also poorly understood. Though smells of sulfur accommodate it sometimes.

In RealLife, thunder is the sound caused by a lightning strike. It has a delay because sound travels slower than light, and so the farther away the lightning strikes, the longer it takes for the thunder to arrive.[[note]] Every five seconds is approximately a one mile distance between you and the lighting bolt.[[/note]] If you do manage to hear thunder at the same time you see a lightning flash, it must probably mean that [[OhCrap you're inside the eye of the storm]].

In RealLife, thunder is the sound caused by a lightning strike. It has a delay because sound travels slower than light, and so the farther away the lightning strikes, the longer it takes for the thunder to arrive. If you do manage to hear thunder at the same time you see a lightning flash, it must probably mean that [[OhCrap you're inside the eye of the storm]].

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat'' has instant lightning. Ninja Monkeys make the wise choice of leaping into the air and raising metal objects in the middle of a thunderstorm but they will only be struck by lightning if you ThunderClap them while they do this.

* ''TheShawshankRedemption'', [[spoiler:Andy escapes from prison]] during a thunderstorm; one aspect of this involved him banging on a sewer pipe with a rock [[CacophonyCoverUp during thunder rumbles to drown out the sound]]. The thunder rumbles were almost at the exact same time as the flashes, from which [[spoiler:Andy]] knew exactly when to strike the sewer pipe.

In RealLife, thunder is the sound caused by a lightning strike. It has a delay because sound travels slower than light, and so the farther away the lightning strikes, the longer it takes for the thunder to arrive. If you do manage to hear thunder at the same time you see a lightning flash, it must probably mean that [[OhCrap you're inside the eye of storm]].

* An unlikely aversion shows up in ''{{BC}}: The First Thanksgiving''. When a volcano erupts in the background, the resulting sound and shockwave takes several seconds to arrive.

* ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'' has counting thunder delay as a key point in ''The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings''.

* ''AttackOfTheClones'': AvertedTrope, with the DVD commentary [[LampshadeHanging noting the trope]].
* ''{{BC}}: The First Thanksgiving'': An unlikely aversion shows up in this 1973 animated TV special. When a volcano erupts in the background, the resulting sound and shockwave takes several seconds to arrive.
* ''MaxManus : Man of War'': Not thunder, but in the film, two Norwegian saboteurs are observing a harbor at long range, waiting for the bombs they planted to go off. They are momentarily [[DistractedByTheSexy distracted]] and the viewer can see the bloom of the explosion behind them before the sound reaches both the characters and the viewer.

* ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'': The first movie has the big sister teaching the little brother to count. They know the storm is coming closer as they count because the thunder comes quicker.
* ''Series/ThePuzzlePlace'': Taught children to count the seconds of delay between the lightning and thunder to find out how far away the storm was.

* ''Thunder Cake'': This children's book features a child and her grandma working together to gather the ingredients for a cake before the storm comes. During this they are counting the time between the lightning and thunder to figure out the time they have left.
* ''Film/TrueLies'': Another non-thunder example. The atomic blast is seen long before we hear its relatively faint rumbling. Understandable as they're at least 12 miles away, which is stated to be the minimum safe distance, though it still took a lot less than a minute for the sound to hit.

* ''TheBerenstainBears'': Has counting thunder delay as a key point in ''The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings''.
* ''DonkeyKongJungleBeat'': Has instant lightning. Ninja Monkeys make the wise choice of leaping into the air and raising metal objects in the middle of a thunderstorm but they will only be struck by lightning if you ThunderClap them while they do this.

In RealLife, thunder is the sound caused by a lightning strike. It has a delay because sound travels slower than light, and so the farther away the lightning strikes, the longer it takes for the thunder to arrive. If you hear thunder at the same time of a lightning strike, it probably means that [[OhCrap you're inside the eye of storm]].

* Counting the delay between lightning and thunder as a storm approaches builds suspense in one scene from ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}''.

* Counting the delay between lightning and thunder builds suspense in one scene from ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}''.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': You can see the room lighting up before you hear the thunder during a flashback in the 8th episode.

* ''MaxManus : Man of War'': Not thunder, but in the film, two Norwegian saboteurs are observing a harbor at long range, waiting for the bombs they planted to go off. They are momentarily distracted and the viewer can see the bloom of the explosion behind them before the sound reaches both the characters and the viewer.

* The first ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'' movie has the big sister teaching the little brother to count. They know the storm is coming closer as they count because the thunder comes quicker.
* Averted in ''AttackOfTheClones'', with the DVD commentary [[LampshadeHanging noting the trope]].
* ''Series/ThePuzzlePlace'' taught children to count the seconds of delay between the lightning and thunder to find out how far away the storm was.
* The children's book ''Thunder Cake'' features a child and her grandma working together to gather the ingredients for a cake before the storm comes. During this they are counting the time between the lightning and thunder to figure out the time they have left.
* In TheShawshankRedemption, [[spoiler:Andy escapes from prison]] during a thunderstorm; one aspect of this involved him banging on a sewer pipe with a rock [[CacophonyCoverUp during thunder rumbles to drown out the sound]]. The thunder rumbles were almost at the exact same time as the flashes, from which [[spoiler:Andy]] knew exactly when to strike the sewer pipe.
* An unlikely aversion shows up in the 1973 animated TV special, {{BC}}: The First Thanksgiving. When a volcano erupts in the background, the resulting sound and shockwave takes several seconds to arrive.
* Another non-thunder example is in ''Film/TrueLies''. The atomic blast is seen long before we hear its relatively faint rumbling. Understandable as they're at least 12 miles away, which is stated to be the minimum safe distance, though it still took a lot less than a minute for the sound to hit.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Durkon uses the Control Weather spell to create a huge lightning strike above Cliffport, which apparently doesn't harm the antagonists. The attacking animated trees (which are only vulnerable to sonic damage) [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0352.html are promptly shattered]] by the thunder which comes after a dramatic delay of "four Miss'sippi".
* Not thunder, but in the film MaxManus : Man of War, two Norwegian saboteurs are observing a harbor at long range, waiting for the bombs they planted to go off. They are momentarily distracted and the viewer can see the bloom of the explosion behind them before the sound reaches both the characters and the viewer.
* You can see the room lighting up before you hear the thunder during a flashback in the 8th episode of ''{{Revolution}}''.

* TheBerenstainBears has counting thunder delay as a key point in ''The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings''.
* DonkeyKongJungleBeat has instant lightning. Ninja Monkeys make the wise choice of leaping into the air and raising metal objects in the middle of a thunderstorm but they will only be struck by lightning if you ThunderClap them while they do this.

* Another non-thunder example is in TrueLies. The atomic blast is seen long before we hear its relatively faint rumbling. Understandable as they're at least 12 miles away, which is stated to be the minimum safe distance, though it still took a lot less than a minute for the sound to hit.

* In ''TheOrderOfTheStick'', Durkon uses the Control Weather spell to create a huge lightning strike above Cliffport, which apparently doesn't harm the antagonists. The attacking animated trees (which are only vulnerable to sonic damage) [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0352.html are promptly shattered]] by the thunder which comes after a dramatic delay of "four Miss'sippi".

* Not thunder, but in the film Max Manus: Man of War, two Norwegian saboteurs are observing a harbor at long range, waiting for the bombs they planted to go off. They are momentarily distracted and the viewer can see the bloom of the explosion behind them before the sound reaches both the characters and the viewer.

* The first ''{{Poltergeist}}'' movie has the big sister teaching the little brother to count. They know the storm is coming closer as they count because the thunder comes quicker.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lightning-gallery-2_9081.jpg
[[caption-width:319: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM]]

* The first {{Poltergeist}} movie has the big sister teaching the little brother to count. They know the storm is coming closer as they count because the thunder comes quicker.
* Averted in AttackOfTheClones, with the DVD commentary [[LampshadeHanging noting the trope]].
* ThePuzzlePlace taught children to count the seconds of delay between the lightning and thunder to find out how far away the storm was.