How dangerous is heat lightning?
I grew up watching heat lightning from the back porch. We never heard thunder, an indicator of closeness. It is brilliantly bright, so it would appear to be dangerous, but the clouds actually amplify the light. The lightning is farther away than it seems, and it is cloud to cloud lightning, as opposed to the normal ground to cloud lightning (vice versa) that injures us. I even asked my 88 year old dad before I found the definitions on the internet. It was a weekly phenomenon for us, and was enjoyable. Admittedly, until tonight I hadn’t seen it in at least 30 years. I believe we never thought it dangerous to be an observer because the lightning with accompanying thunder would be a warning of distance from us. It IS a sight to be seen. Enjoy.
