I witnessed this phenomenon many years ago when I was in Illinois. A strong thunderstorm had passed through and, according to the radar, was about 7 miles to the east. Skies had cleared overhead and I went outside to watch the departing storm off in the distance. The distant thunderstorm threw out a lightning bolt that passed directly overhead (and not too much overhead either) and hit the ground 3 miles to the west, so the impact point was 10 miles from the storm cell. It was one of those rare times when I had a beer (while doing some unexpected laundry

) - certainly an un-nerving experience.

The old axiom involved counting off 30 seconds between flash and thunder. The new axiom is to go indoors whenever you hear thunder.
Cheers,
ED