'That pre-thunder-bolt sound'

[JR8]

I'm really not sure how to describe this, so please bear with me.

Lightning storm going on. As a thunder-bolt comes down there is a very loud piercing shrill noise. It's not the thunder, it's more like Jimi Hendrix ... 'Eee-wa-eeeee-wah!!'.

Does anyone know WTH it is? [Can't say I've experienced it anywhere else in the world].

[Max Headroom]

They say that when lightning hits right next to you, all you hear is a click, similar to that spark thingy people use to light the gas oven, but a bit louder of course. I have actually heard that click myself when I got hit a few years back by a lightning tendril. A second or so later, the full-on thunder clap filled the air.

I guess that the types of lightning sounds/noise run the gamut from that modest click to the distant rumbling that can resonate seemingly for ever. You got the watchtower version.

[JR8]

You get a similar sound in this film trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxENJ2LwecY Apocalypse Now redux - Trailer - HQ, but there it is meant to be from shooting off missiles. At c60 seconds, and again at 1:50.


Barrelling, echoey, almost screeching/squeeling....