Heat lightning (not to be confused with dry thunderstorms, which are also often called dry lightning) is a misnomer used for the faint flashes of lightning on the horizon or other clouds from distant thunderstorms that do not appear to have accompanying sounds of thunder. The actual phenomenon that is sometimes called heat lightning is simply cloud-to-ground lightning that occurs very far away, with thunder that dissipates before it reaches the observer.
Heat lightning (not to be confused with dry thunderstorms, which are also often called dry lightning) is a misnomer used for the faint flashes of lightning on the horizon or other clouds from distant thunderstorms that do not appear to have accompanying sounds of thunder. The actual phenomenon that is sometimes called heat lightning is simply cloud-to-ground lightning that occurs very far away, with thunder that dissipates before it reaches the observer.
Source: Wikipedia "Heat lightning" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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