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Lightning & Thunder Training Center

Ari Raider's Training Materials · Storm Chasers · Training Center 4 of 6

Lightning & Thunder

In the Flash Vault the lightning is going off too fast to count. Storm chasers count storms the slow way — flash first, then the seconds, then the thunder.

What you're training for

In the Flash Vault, nobody can tell how far away the storm is. The flashes slow down for whoever can put one lightning bolt's story in order. Train here first; prove it in the simulation.

The science

  • Lightning and thunder happen at the same moment — the bolt superheats the air and the air booms.
  • But light travels much faster than sound — so you always see the flash first and hear the thunder after.
  • The gap is a ruler: count the seconds between flash and boom — every five seconds is about a mile of distance.
  • Shrinking counts mean the storm is coming closer — the exact trick storm chasers, sailors and scouts all use.

Teach it today — one flashlight

The flash-bang drill. Lights off. Blink a flashlight, then clap after a counted delay — three seconds, then seven, then one. Students count each gap and rank the "storms" nearest to farthest. Then the big question: what does it mean when the counts get shorter each time?

Trained and ready? Prove it at Stop 4 — the Flash Vault. Free, no logins, progress saved on the device.

Enter the Realm at Stop 4

Resources in this training center

Worksheets, reading passages, flashcards and printables for this lesson are being added — new resources land here first. Get one email a month when they do, or browse the whole free library.

The hands-on half: the Storm Chasers Adventure Kit puts six real specimens — labradorite, the stone that flashes, included — plus six Digs, six Gemlings and the Realm map in your students' hands. $19.99, or $15 a student for classrooms.

More Storm Chasers training

Wind · Storm Safety · Weather vs Climate · Lightning & Thunder · Precipitation · Weather Tools · Enter the Adventure →

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