What Causes the ‘Sound’ of Thunder and Why Does It Echo?

Thunder is the sound of lightning. When lightning strikes, it makes a big boom that we hear as thunder. If you are far away from where lightning happened, the sound bounces off mountains or buildings and comes back to you, that’s how thunder echoes!

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Examples

A lightning strike makes a loud boom that echoes off the mountains like a giant is shouting.
Thunder sounds like it's coming from two places when you're standing between two hills.
You hear thunder twice because the sound bounces off a building before reaching your ears.

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Categories: Science · thunder,sound waves,acoustics,weather,natural phenomena