Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance is the third solo album by Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood, released on September 11, 2012 on ATO Records.

Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance is based on a novel Hood started writing but never finished.

The novel was based on a very difficult time in Hood's life in the early 1990s.

Hood wrote the novel while on the road touring in support of The Big To-Do.

[1] On review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 13 reviews, corresponding to "generally favorable reviews".