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Saturday, March 14, 2026

How hot is lightning?


	March 14, 2026

Original photo by Mike Lewinski/ Unsplash

Lightning can heat the air to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

"How hot is lightning?" is a bit of a trick question. Lightning itself doesn't have a temperature, because it's just the movement of electrical charges in the atmosphere. But that doesn't stop lightning from heating up whatever it passes through — in this case, air. Air is a poor conductor of electricity, so it heats up tremendously when lightning strikes. In fact, "tremendously" might be an understatement.

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		Numbers Don't Lie

Speed (in miles per hour) of a lightning bolt

270,000

Lightning strikes per second across the world

Times Virginia park ranger Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning, a world record

Width (in centimeters) of a lightning bolt

2-3

People used to think that ringing church bells repelled lightning.

There's a good reason why some church bells still have the words "fulgura frango" inscribed on them. The phrase, Latin for "I break up lightning," is evidence of a superstition dating back to the medieval era: that ringing church bells prevented lightning strikes. You might be able to guess how the superstition was proved to be just that — a great many bell-ringers were struck by lightning — but the belief persisted until the late 18th century. It's far from the only way people once tried to repel lightning, of course. Europeans used to plant Sempervivum tectorum, also called houseleek or hens and chicks, on the roofs of houses and churches in the belief that it somehow prevented lightning and fire.

Today's edition of Interesting Facts was written by Michael Nordine and edited by Bess Lovejoy.