Thunder and lightning?
I anytime there is thunder, is their ALWAYS lightning, or sometimes can there be thunder and no lightning?
Thunder is a direct result of lightning, always. There can never be any exceptions to this. When lightning occurs, the air around the strike is heated at a tremendously fast rate to a temperature that is hotter than the surface than the Sun. This explosive thunder is caused by the friction between the rapidly moving air molecules that have just been heated. Air is expanded rapidly and then contracted along the entire length of the lightning strike, thus producing thunder.
If the lightning occurs more than 15 miles away from the observer, thunder will not be heard because the sound waves are directed away from you due to the density differences of the atmosphere. This kind of lightning was termed “heat lightning”, although most meteorologists don’t like using that terminology.
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Lightning causes thunder, so yes, thunder and lightning always come together. Sometimes, you may not hear the thunder/see the lightning, though.