# Big City Dwellers: what is a thunderstorm like there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-city-dwellers-what-is-a-thunderstorm-like-there/550433 "2010-08-16T18:26:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-city-dwellers-what-is-a-thunderstorm-like-there/550433/21 "2010-08-19T02:20:13Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Here, I am not surrounded by high rises or tall buildings. I live in a residential neighborhood, in a split level house. I can hear the wind whip through the maple tree in the back yard, the leaves rustling like brushes on a snare drum. I can hear the rain hitting my roof, or if it’s windy, hitting my window. Sometimes when it’s coming down really hard, you can hear it pounding off of everything all at once; the ground, trees, roof, windows… it’s so exciting. I love opening my windows and hearing the boom of thunder so loud that it rattles my mirror. The light can be blinding, so close, so intense, so loud. > > I would assume experiencing a thunderstorm where I live would be similar to experiencing a thunderstorm in a suburb. Go out to Queens and take a listen. Well I do live in Queens in a single-family residential area, and grew up here, so yes it’s pretty similar, except for the light from the lightning. I really can’t remember ever being blinded by the light from lightning except while driving through very dark, remote areas in a storm. It’s the pounding of the driving rain on the windows, roof and street pavement that echo the loudest, and the crack and boom of thunder that define a storm. And the winds blowing garbage cans down the street. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-city-dwellers-what-is-a-thunderstorm-like-there/550433.md?page=1)