Weather Karaoke: Does it have to be raining for you to hear thunder?

In this segment of Weather Karaoke, AccuWeather's Ariella Scalese discusses the science behind rain and thunder.

Transcript

00:00Well, today on Weather Karaoke we're diving into the meteorological meeting behind another

00:10iconic song lyric.

00:12This week, our request came in from AccuWeather viewer Albert, who wanted me to take a closer

00:17look at Fleetwood Mac's classic hit.

00:19One of the most memorable lines from this song involves two types of weather happening

00:23in tandem.

00:24But is it really true?

00:25Does it have to be raining when you hear thunder?

00:29Let's explore the science behind it.

00:34Thunder is the sound caused by lightning, and while it's commonly associated with rain,

00:40it doesn't necessarily have to be raining for thunder to occur.

00:43However, rain and thunder often do go hand in hand for a few reasons.

00:47Let's take a look at the formation of thunderstorms formed from cumulonimbus clouds, which develop

00:52when warm, moist air rises into the atmosphere, and as the air rises, it cools and condenses

00:58water droplets, forming clouds and eventually leading to rain.

01:02Then lightning, which causes the sound we hear with thunder, occurs within these clouds

01:06due to the separation of positive and negative charges.

01:09When the difference between the charges come large enough, a sudden discharge of electricity

01:14happens and this is lightning.

01:16The rapid expansion and contraction of air caused by the intense heat of the lightning

01:20create the sound wave we hear as thunder.

01:24And while it's true that thunder is most commonly heard during rain, it can also happen

01:29without rain in a dry thunderstorm, where lightning occurs with little or no rain reaching

01:34the ground, and this happens when the lower part of the atmosphere is just too dry for

01:38the rain to survive the fall.

01:41Thunder can also be heard during snowstorms.

01:45Yeah, that is a phenomenon known as thundersnow.

01:54While Fleetwood Mac's lyrics capture the typical association of rain and thunder, there's a

01:58little bit of more layers to the story.

02:02So there you have it.

02:03Thunder doesn't only happen when it's raining, but the two are closely related.

02:07Keep these fun facts in mind next time you're singing along, and remember, I am taking requests.

02:13What weather songs do you want me to dive into next?

02:15You can send me an email at ariela.scalise at AccuWeather.com, or if you're on social

02:20media, feel free to send me a message on Facebook or Instagram.

02:24That's weather karaoke.