I had an experience yesterday. We are in the seasonal monsoon weather pattern here in the high desert. Humidity in the 30s to 40s, temperatures around 115 degrees F. The sky will be perfectly blue at 9:00 a.m. and by 11:00 thunderheads growing into the stratesphere in every direction. By noon, the showers begin, but they happen in cells or clusters, and if your lucky enough to be under one, you'll get cooled off. I was driving near Mojave airport near the edge of one of these cells, but still in the sunshine. Two large bolts of lightning struck the desert floor within a mile of me, kicking up dust where they struck. There was NO thunder, nada; only the flash and the distinct bolt of electricity coming from the sky to the earth. Wierdest thing I ever saw.

David