Topic: Longer time between lightning strikes gives more intense thunder?

[Weather Spares]

Following on from DaleReid and his interesting lightning phenomena there is something else that I've noticed with storms that similar to Dale am not sure if it's just me.

When a storm is pretty much rolling along at an even keel, i.e. isn't intensifying or weakening, there will be lightning at fairly regular intervals and associated thunder. Then occasionally there will be a much longer gap between lightning, followed by a much more intense flash of lightning and louder thunder. I assume this is the cloud building a more intense charge before finding somewhere to discharge it to?

Hopefully that sort of makes sense - or is it just me? (the same no smoking or drinking hallucinogenic items applies - although I'm on pretty strong coffee lol).

[Weather Display]

often cold air, i.e cold maritime thunderstorms, the thunder is louder (because more rapid heating of the cold air)
also often in say the mid west, there is lots of different layers of different temperature and windspeed and direction and strong updrafts, and that tends to distribute the sound up or scatter it
i.e so you dont hear the thunder very loud as the storm approaches