Thunder

I love listening to thunder.  Even though I know it's just the snap of superheated air cooling after a lightening strike rips through, the long drawn out rumble is still

beautiful, almost reassuring.  For a strike to land, it has to carve an ionized path

between cloud and ground.  The current flashes along the path and heats the air until it glows white hot and expands.  Then the strike is gone, the heated air cools in a rush and other air rushes back to fill the void, making the snap.  Light travels at 300,000,000 metres per second, sound at a sluggish 330 metres per second.  Takes a while for the sound to get to us, and it gets drawn out as it travels.  Right under the strike, you'd hear one deafening bang.  Where the strike lands, it melts the earth, leaving a long glass spike.