I've been within 20 ft of three different lightning strikes, and every single time there's been no loud boom just that single bottle rocket pop. It's even cooler when you can actually see when it hits; just a couple of white lines radiating out from a single point.
I really miss thunderstorms though. Two severe warnings in the last two days with a nasty squall line barreling down on us; only to have one split north and south of us and one fizzling out 10 miles to the west. It really sucks.