Why do some people find the sound of distant thunder soothing?

[Bogie]

My theory is that in the distant past, predators would shelter from storms.

[MechAg94]

I don't know if I find the sound soothing.  I was always a bit excited and fascinated by thunderstorms.  The light and sound show can be quite entertaining watching from shelter.  However, the dogs we had growing up never liked it.  Not sure about the cows. 

[Cliffh]

A thunderstorm is soothing, if I'm sitting in the house in my favorite chair reading.

If I'm outside, there's a bit more excitement in the mix.

I do like to watch them come through no matter the circumstances.

[Perd Hapley]

Rain is much more soothing if you're not worried about a leaky roof or basement.

[HeroHog]

When I was a LITTLE kid, we lived in the Waco Texas area and dad would have us all sit on the back door stairs and watch the distant lightning and listen to the thunder. I remember those times to this day and don't recall ever being scared of thunder. Riding out a BAD hurricane where the eye passed over our house is a horse of a different smell!

[ConstitutionCowboy]

The sound of thunder in the distance is soothing because it is distant. Close in bodes close in lightning. 

Woody

[RoadKingLarry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4pGwwU8wR4

[K Frame]

I just close my eyes and imagine it's the sound of friendly artillery shelling ever more isolated liberal positions in the civil war they seem to want and, for some reason, think that they can win.

You'd think that the complete and utter self-destruction of the First "Chicks Who Were Born With Sticks" Brigade when they found out that they couldn't get a double skinny no caf vegan lattes at the Commissary would have tipped them off...

[230RN]

^ Pure rhapsody, K Frame. :)

I never felt comforted by distant thunder.  It was just a warning to keep a weather eye out to get the horses in and do some hatch-battening.  I used to have one of those old-fashioned metal construction worker hats which was noisier than hell in hail.  I don't remember any of our dogs getting spooked by thunder.

Oddly, what gives me a soothing feeling is a motorcycle in the distance on a summer's eve.  Weird, huh?  Don't know why, but I could rationalize it by saying it sounded like someone was having fun driving it.  Wind in face,  beard catching bugs...

Vroooooooooooooooooooooom............

[Ben]

I always enjoyed thunderstorms in CA, as they were usually far enough away you were just watching the lightning migrate across the sky. My folks had a great view of the Sierras, so it was always neat watching thunderstorms at their place. Even CA thunderstorms that passed overhead were "relaxing" to watch.

Here, we get a lot more thunderstorms than where I lived in CA. I still like watching them pass across the sky, even when they pass by close. I gotta say that I don't enjoy the ones that come directly over the house. The thunder and lightning I wouldn't mind, but the storms here always seem to be accompanied by 50mph winds, so instead of enjoying the show, I'm on edge about what is getting blown away around or on the house. 

[gunsmith]

 if I live in a noisy area, I will play thunder/lightning video's to sleep by

[Bogie]

In my neighborhood, the terminally caring folks go nuts just before holidays imploring people to avoid fireworks or shooting in the air... Not because of what goes up coming down, but because their precious furbabies freak out over the noise.
 
Okayfine - if you're not freaking out, your critters won't freak out.

[K Frame]

"Okayfine - if you're not freaking out, your critters won't freak out."

Absolute 100% BULLSHIT statement. 

Some animals are very upset by thunder, explosions, or other loud noises, just as some humans are.

I have NEVER "freaked out" over thunder storms or fireworks, but I've had two dogs that were, from the very first day I had them, terrified by the noise. It was innate to their nature, and certainly wasn't something that they learned from me.

[Bogie]

Okay - why does one labrador try to crawl under the sofa in the basement, but one in a different family is at the front door wanting to go out and play?

[K Frame]

Okay - why does one labrador try to crawl under the sofa in the basement, but one in a different family is at the front door wanting to go out and play?

Really? You think that dogs are punched off an assembly line and all have the same personality software?

Are humans that way?

If humans have distinct personalities and innate tendencies, what makes you think that animals don't?

Jesus.

[HeroHog]

"Woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered..."

[RoadKingLarry]

Okay - why does one labrador try to crawl under the sofa in the basement, but one in a different family is at the front door wanting to go out and play?

I've had dogs that absolutely freaked the F out during a thunder storm and some that didn't care. The freakouts definitely weren't getting their cues from me or the wife.

[gunsmith]

I think lightning/humidity does something to the atmosphere that perhaps has has a calming effect, or maybe the sound is comforting for some reason.
When I lived in Florida I loved the summer night sky, almost always a cool light show off in the distance

[Ben]

Really? You think that dogs are punched off an assembly line and all have the same personality software?

Are humans that way?

If humans have distinct personalities and innate tendencies, what makes you think that animals don't?

Jesus.

^^^What he said. I'm scared of neither guns nor thunder. Dogs are individuals just like people.

First lab, Tara, I got as a pup. Scared of both guns and thunder. As simply excellent as she was in retrieving instinct and enthusiasm, I thought she was going to be a bust as a hunter until our first actual hunt where she put together birds falling out of the air and gun shots. Then anytime she even heard a gun action, she went bonkers knowing she was going hunting. She never got over her fear of thunder. Not to the point of running away, but running to me and needing to be cuddled.

I got Romy the lab as a pup as well. She was scared of neither guns nor thunder. If it was close thunder, she'd find me and hang out close by.

Steve the mutt showed up scared to death of gunshots and guns and general. I've never been able to break him of that even though he seems to have a strong hunting instinct. Even shooting with a friend and his lab, hoping that when Steve saw the lab excited about guns, and also retrieving geese, that he would catch on. Nope. Let him off his lead, and he'll not run away, but trot the 1/4 mile from the blind back to my front porch and hang out there till I get back. Just wants nothing to do with guns. Possibly because something involving guns may have happened to him when he was out on his own before he found me. Thunder? He could give a *expletive deleted*it. Same with other loud noises. He'll hang out right next to me when I'm running the log splitter or chainsaw, even though I'm wearing earpro.

The only place I might assign credence to what Bogie said is that like me, Steve is a loner. He might have got that from me, or he might have got that on his own. If I'm sitting on the porch, he might sit by me, but more often then not, he just wanders off to his kennel and hangs there by himself, even if the cat is laying next to me. Same in the house. If I'm in the living room watching TV or reading, he's not laying next to me like normal dogs. He goes to his bed in the bedroom and hangs there by himself. The only exception is the Winter months when I have the wood stove going. Then he's on his mat by the fireplace while I read by the fire. My previous dogs always hung out near me.

[230RN]

I just don't see thunderstorms as anything to be romantic about.   

I remember standing in the turnaround area on my farm east of Boulder CO watching a really violent storm off to my northwest.

Couldn't see the actual storm, just the surrounding clouds and almost continuous lightning.  I remember thinking, "Wow, that's a beaut." Got on the CB for something else a little later and found channel 9 (the emergency channel) was alive with chatter about emergencies and calls for help.

Next day I found out on the news that was the Big Thompson flood:

In the early evening of July 31, 1976, a large stationary thunderstorm released as much as 7.5 inches of rainfall in about an hour (about 12 inches in a few hours) in the upper reaches of the Big Thompson River drainage. This large amount of rainfall in such a short period of time produced a flash flood that caught residents and tourists by surprise

The immense volume of water that churned down the narrow Big Thompson Canyon scoured the river channel and destroyed everything in its path, including 418 homes, 52 businesses, numerous bridges, paved and unpaved roads, power and telephone lines, and many other structures.

The tragedy claimed the lives of 144 people. Scores of other people narrowly escaped with their lives. The Big Thompson flood ranks among the deadliest of Colorado's recorded floods.

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/gip35

Hard to be romantic about storms after that one.

Terry, 230RN

REF:
https://youtu.be/MUIAToqEfMo (18:57)

[MechAg94]

I find rain a bit soothing (at least when I am under cover).  Thunderstorms are just fun to watch.  One of the most memorable is one time I was driving and seemed to be in a pocket with thunderstorms ahead and to either side.  The light show was great. 

My former boss had a lap dog (his wife's) that would have nervous breakdowns on holidays when fireworks were being shot off.  He certainly didn't have an issue.

[JTHunter]

Thunder & lightning = Nature's fireworks.   
There are hunting dogs that turn out to be "gun shy" due to the noise and will never make a decent hunter, despite their breeding.
Dogs that are "pets" never had that breeding and show their fear and anxiety even more.

[RocketMan]

I used to find thunder and lightning shows from distant thunderstorms enjoyable.  But having been on the receiving end of damage from large hail, lightning and tornadoes kind of destroyed that whole thing for me.

"Woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered..."

Love that tune.