Why did thunder just randomly strike next to my window?

Question

It's not raining outside, and it scared the h**l out of me and my panophobic cat.

Answer 1

There's a storm around somewhere.  It's not unusual to hear thunder before it starts raining.

Answer 2

Lightning is not random and is caused variations in electrical charges in the atmosphere.

Lightning can go from the ground to the air,  air to the ground,  incloud,  etc.

Answer 3

maybe its a warning. were you doing something you are not supposed to be doing? lol

Answer 4

This happened to me once just outside my building. I was in my room doing my things, there was absolutely no rain outside and I hadn't heard any thunder so far. Suddenly, I saw a quick, bright flash followed by a tremendous boom not even a half a second later. You can imagine my feelings at this point, so there's no need for me to go any further.

Anyway, this can happen to anyone who was unlucky enough to have the lightning strike right next to them. Clearly, a storm must have been near by. Remember, lightning has been known to strike as much as 10 miles away from the storm cloud itself. There is no sure way to tell "why" it struck where it did. That is the wonder of nature. Scientists are still working on the specifics of lightning formation and figuring out why it strikes where it does. What's interesting is that lightning has also been known to avoid the tallest/metallic objects around and strike somewhere else, it is a mystery at this point.