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What’s the least electrically active storm you’ve seen?


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Posted
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District
  • Location: Whaley Bridge - Peak District

I remember 2 or 3 years ago we had one heck of a rainstorm here, the type where you could hear it just lashing down on the roof to the point of waiting for the inevitable crack of thunder but there was nothing...quite eery to see that much rainfall falling in the space of 15 minutes and no sferics associated with it.

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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

It's not that unusual you just get one discharge and it's done.
In winter we quite often get fast-moving snow and hail showers which might have one little rumble as they pass.

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Posted
  • Location: London
  • Weather Preferences: Hot
  • Location: London

That's a good question. How big does a lightning bolt need to be in order for thunder to be heard?   Are we in fact experiencing 'thunder' storms on a regular basis with say, 2 metre-long lightning bolts that are inaudible and invisible from the ground / detector?

Edit... it occured to me a 'baby' bolt would need to travel from the positive to the negatively charged ends of the cloud.  But how far apart do these + & - sections need to be?

Edited by Another Kent clipper
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Posted
  • Location: new milton, hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: all weather
  • Location: new milton, hampshire

Had one random ic bolt once with a huge crack of thunder a few years ago at Poole harbour! Didn’t even rain

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Posted
  • Location: Benfleet, South Essex
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and breezy with a bit of cloud, about 20C
  • Location: Benfleet, South Essex

I’ve seen a fair few storms over the last few years with heavy rain lasting over an hour but with only one clap of thunder

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Posted
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.
  • Location: Powys Mid Wales borders.
On ‎06‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 09:10, Another Kent clipper said:

That's a good question. How big does a lightning bolt need to be in order for thunder to be heard?   Are we in fact experiencing 'thunder' storms on a regular basis with say, 2 metre-long lightning bolts that are inaudible and invisible from the ground / detector?

Edit... it occured to me a 'baby' bolt would need to travel from the positive to the negatively charged ends of the cloud.  But how far apart do these + & - sections need to be?

Lighting and crackles of thunder when you take your sweater off,havn`t heard that lately.

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Posted
  • Location: St rads Dover
  • Weather Preferences: Snow, T Storms.
  • Location: St rads Dover

It wasn't  a thunder storm, but a winter storm with dynamic rainfall, it produced one bolt of lightning and thunder during heavy rain, don't think it was a cold front either.

Edited by alexisj9
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Posted
  • Location: Perth, Scotland
  • Location: Perth, Scotland

We had a very good thunderstorm back on June 1st which lasted 30 minutes and produced 21mm of rain which brought some flooding to the area there was some fantastic flashes of lightning and very loud claps of thunder. Reminded me a lot of the storms of August 2004.

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  • 1 month later...
Posted
  • Location: Stockton on tees
  • Weather Preferences: snow, electric storms
  • Location: Stockton on tees

Friday just gone here in stockton.

was at the local shopping park, heard 3 cracks of thunder but had absolutely torrential rain, was just waiting for the big bolt....nothing

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Posted
  • Location: Irlam
  • Location: Irlam

Its very odd question to ask this because when does it become a storm?

I have seen showers passby and just give a single clap of thunder. April 25th this year, there were two low rumbles of thunder here and that was all it was, there was no other lightning activity. Does that make it a storm? 

Edited by Weather-history
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I would think as long as there is no lightning it's a "shower", if there is lightning it's a "thunderstorm". However, there are terms such as "thundery shower". Not sure what is exactly the difference between "thundery shower" and a "thunderstorm". Probably no exact scientific meaning, but only depends how one uses it. If there was a shower and it produced a few rumbles here and there, max. e.g. 5 per hour not in close succession I'd call it "thundery shower" and if more than that then I'll call it a "thunderstorm". But then there are "hailstorms", which don't have to have lightning and possibly "windstorms" (e.g. dry microburst under a shower that hasn't produced any lightning). Weather observers also sometimes report "thunder nearby" instead of "thunderstorm", I've seen these reports either when there was up to 2-3 discharges detected nearby or if there was a stronger thunderstorm, e.g. 5-10 miles away, but not overhead.

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms
  • Location: Sheffield

Most of the thunderstorms I've seen in the UK are electrically weak. Only a few examples I've seen stand out as having frequent lightning, such as September 2016 and July 2015. I haven't seen a proper thunderstorm since September 2016.

The UK is a very poor climate for thunder - too much maritime influence and cool temperatures in summer. Just looking at CAPE/LI charts demonstrates that the conditions are rarely present, whereas over the continent with its strong surface heating values are often high most of the summer, hence their frequent and often severe thunderstorms.

Edited by CheeseAndOnionCrisps
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