Think You’ve Seen 'Heat Lightning' in Colorado? Think Again

Colorado Summers: If You Don't Like the Weather...

If you don't like the weather in Colorado, just wait five minutes, it'll change.

We've been off to a relatively HOT start to this summer season. When the sun isn't beating down on us and the temps aren't climbing to over a hundred degrees, it's storming.

Hail, rain, and thunder!

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You name it! We've lived it over the past few weeks.

What Is "Heat Lightning" Anyway?

One of the weather events I've always gotten a bit nervous about is something called "heat lightning."

When I was growing up, my family always talked about how summers could be rough because of this heat lightning.

A Common Colorado Weather Myth

KM/CANVA

We all believed hot, humid weather could trigger lightning, even without rain or thunder nearby. That's heat lightning, right?!?

Turns out, my entire family was completely wrong. This weather phenomenon doesn't actually exist!

The Truth About Heat Lightning

After living on this planet for nearly THREE WHOLE DECADES I'm just finding out about this NOW!?!

What Weather Experts Say About Colorado Heat Lightning

A story originally posted by the Weather Channel actually clarified this for us.

Those flashes of light that we see during a "heat lightning" storm are in fact bolts of lightning. However, that lightning is from a very distant thunderstorm.

This storm is so far away that the sound from the thunder doesn't travel all the way to where you are experiencing it.

Do you know that you can see lightning from a thunderstorm from a hundred miles away?

So, you could be hanging out in Greeley, going about your day and see flashes of light across the sky. The actual thunderstorm could be in Cheyenne for all you know!

Is anyone else kind of shocked that they've gone this long without realizing this whole thing? Well, now we all know!

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See some other weather myths that you might not know already down below!

10 Weather Myths We've All Fallen For

Didd you know heat lightning isn’t actually a real thing? It’s just regular lightning from a thunderstorm that’s too far away for you to hear the thunder or see the strike hit the ground. I know, my whole life has been a lie too. But wait, there’s more! Keep scrolling for even more weather myths we’ve all fallen for.