Video Help

[ericjkelly]

So I am bored...and cant wait for chase season!

So I was digging through old videos. I have a close range lightning strike, but you never hear the thunder.

What am I missing?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tyyEbnMp3U

 

[Skip Talbot]

Assuming it's not after the point in which the video is cut, it's probably being muffled by the polycarbonate shell the GoPro is housed inside of and also the engine, wind, and rain noise.

 

[ericjkelly]

I just imagined it would have been sooner. Even the dash am fails to pick up thunder


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[STexan]

I've had lightning strike a windmill 100 feet from me and first you could actually hear the "ping" as it hit the metal, along with not very loud "thunder" that sounded more like someone firing a .222 at that same distance and there was no "loud thunder". I think most of the loud thunder is created at mid levels as it reverbs through the clouds and it's decibel level is determined by several factors and not so much it's proximity. And, the gain on some camcorder mics is not terribly good.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Is it possible that the lightning isn't quite as close as it appears? In the rolling terrain of the High Plains, it's sometimes difficult to judge distance. This strike from northeast New Mexico on my dashcam looks close (it comes down in front of the horizon), but there was no audible thunder from inside my truck because it was actually about a mile away. It may have been audible if not for the heavy rain noise:

Also, today's vehicles are very soundproof, and thunder sound is always greatly muted (or even inaudible) with all of the windows up, especially if there is rain/road noise.

Robert, that windmill strike sounds like an upward lightning discharge. Those can have very soft thunder due to the current rise being much slower than a downward CG (which have very abrupt and intense current spikes). Here's an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td0WEtf1pQk#t=00m25s