And a cloud can grow to very high altitudes at this rate in a short time. Eventually the droplets grow and precipitate out of the cloud. As a rule, the stronger the updraft, the larger the rain drops. When the cloud drops its precipitation load, the falling rain cools the air that it falls into. This outflow of air from the thunderstorm is called a downdraft.
Thunder is the result of lightning heating the air.
F. This causes the air around the bold to expand rapidly. That creates a shock wave that spreads out in the air away from the bolt like ripple in a pond as after a stone has been thrown in. That shock wave you hear is thunder. It takes the sound about 5 seconds to travel one mile. By counting the seconds between when you see the flash and hear the resulting thunder, you can determine how far away that lightning strike was.