Dear Mr. Skilling,
How does thunder make its sound? Ever since I was a little kid I thought it was angels bowling, but now I know that’s not true. What is true?
Katelyn, Schaumburg
Dear Katelyn,
Weather myths provide quick and understandable, albeit erroneous, explanations for complex atmospheric phenomena.
Through history, many explanations for thunder erroneously associated it with the activities of mythological beings (Thor hammering on his anvil, for example) or with clouds (rubbing or banging together), but we now understand that thunder is the sound generated by lightning.
A bolt of lighting, typically less than a half-inch in diameter, heats the air through which it passes to at least 50,000(degrees) F in a few thousands of a second. That heated air expands explosively, creating the sound waves that our ears perceive as thunder.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
