Dear Tom,
During a big thunderstorm in May, I and my family heard a distinct “pop” or “click” that was followed by a crash of thunder. Lightning struck a tree only a hundred feet from the house. What was that clicking noise?
–Richard Johnson, Chicago
Dear Richard,
Lightning expert Ron Holle of Vaisala Inc. of Tucson, Ariz., tells us any source of such a sound requires being within a few hundred yards of the ground strike point. Holle says: “the clicks may have been static discharge from upward streamers from the house, the ground or other nearby objects; these are released just when a flash strikes the Earth’s surface. Or, there may have been a buildup of static charge on parts of the house just before the strike. Sometimes on [AM] radios, you can hear this buildup as a whine or series of clicks until the flash strikes the ground.”
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