system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What causes that type of thunder that seems to rumble on for minutes at a time as opposed to the sharp crack boom of other lightning.
gpt
If the lightning is nearby and vertical, you hear all the sound at once as a loud explosion.

If it’s far away or more horizontal you don’t get all the sound at once, and get that echoing rumble as the different sections of sound reach you at different times.