Can there be thunder without lightning?

Question

or lightning without thunder?

Answer 1

No - however, it is possible to hear the thunder yet not be able to (from your position) see the lightning which might create the impression that there is none.

As the previous post mentioned, one being the sound of the other you can not hear the sound with out there being lightning to have produced it.  

Answer 2

No, they are the same phenomenon.

The extremely high voltage across the gap between the Earth and the cloud ionises the air, which allows a large current to flow through it, in doing so the air is super heated along the path to a point where it gives off light (the flash), and by heating up it rapidly expands causing a shockwave (the sound).

You cannot have one without the other.

However, it you were looking in the other direction and the storm is far away, you may hear the thunder but not see the flash. And if you were really far away, you might be able to see the flashes but be too far to hear the thunder.

Answer 3

Lightning is the cause and thunder is the effect.Lightning i s caused when clouds containing +ve and -ve charge collide it sparks and flashes and extreme heat which heats up the air and thus the air expands enormously.In order to bring down the level of heat air from the surroundings rush to the spot in order to reduce the heat as well as to fill up the vacuum created.This collision of air causes the thunder.Hence thunder is not possible without lightning.

Answer 4

No. The thunder is caused by the elctrical discharge. Now, lighting can be masked by cloud cover or distance but it is present.

Answer 5

No

Answer 6

no, its not possible..

Answer 7

You cant have thunder without lightning and it is not possible to have lightning without thunder. Thunder is a direct result of lightning. However, it is possible that you could not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes it is called “heat lightning” because it occurs most often in the summer.

Answer 8

There is no such thing as "heat lightning." All that you are seeing is lightning from a distant thunderstorm that is so far away from you that you can not hear thunder. This is a misconception among most people and that is how it got the term "heat lightning." At night on a clear night you can see lightning up to 100 miles away. Here is a good site on lightning.

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/lightnin...

Answer 9

It's like asking can there be fish without chips or chips without fish. Preposterous!

Lightning causes thunder. You may not hear thunder if the lightning is too far away, but lightning and thunder always go together. Like fish and chips.

Answer 10

yes there can b