Rumble and Roll…. Why Does Thunder Sound So Different From Time-to-Time?
by Steve Horstmeyer, Meteorologist, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Return to Home Page Return to Just Ask Steve Table of Contents Fulgura Frango The inscription on many church bells in Medieval Europe was the Latin Fulgura Frango (I break up the lightning flashes), because the belief was that ringing church bells would dissipate lightning. In a 33 year period, 103 German bellringers were killed doing this, if they had only known what was flowing their way down the lightning channel from the thunderstorm above. Billions and Billions of Electrons (with apologies to Carl Sagan) What was surging towards the bellringers was electrons. Moving electrons is what an electric current is and they flow from a thunderstorm to earth in a lightning bolt. Within the thunderstorm when a small in-cloud flash occurs between the small positive region near the base and the negative region above, electrons begin to flow downward and accelerate towards the surface. The progress is not smooth, but surges ahead in stra
