captpackrat | The speed of lightning

There's a small line of thunderstorms about 50 miles to the south of us. It doesn't look like much on radar, but it's making a very impressive display outside. It kinda looks like some kind of alien invasion or something. Even at this distance, you can occasionally make out individual bolts. The skies here are perfectly clear and the storms are far enough away you can't hear the thunder.

I'm surprised just how far lightning flashes can travel; while picking up our roommate from Omaha Eppley Field the other day, we could clearly see flashes of light from a storm centered around Sioux City, about 100 miles away!