We were sitting down to dinner Saturday evening, when there was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder.
Notice that I didn't say, "followed by a crash of thunder", right?
That is never a good sign. Since light travels at 300,000,000 meters per second and sound at only about 340 meters per second in air, we know that light from a lightning discharge will arrive at our location much more quickly than the sound of thunder. That is why we usually see a flash of lightning and then wait several seconds for the inevitable clap of thunder caused by the discharge. When the two are simultaneous, that means the lightning discharge is very close by. This one was nearly simultaneous, so it was very nearby.
But the power stayed on and we finished dinner.
