(WKBW-TV), Buffalo — We're taking a deeper dive into a phenomenon we’ve all seen at some point, but maybe never gave much thought. That phenomenon is lightning.
It’s dangerous and deadly, but have you ever wondered how hot it can get? The answer may surprise you!
Lightning holds diverse cultural significance across the world. In some cultures, it’s seen as a manifestation of gods or supernatural beings. For example, in Norse mythology, Thor the god of thunder, wields lightning as his weapon.
Through modern science, we understand that lightning is essentially a massive electrostatic discharge that occurs during thunderstorms when electrical imbalances build up between clouds or between a cloud and the ground. This results in a sudden flow of electricity known as a lightning strike. So how hot can that bolt become?
Technically speaking, the actual bolt doesn’t have a temperature. It’s the resistance to the movement of the electrical charges that causes the materials that the lightning is passing through to heat up and for us to determine temperature. If the object is a good conductor of electricity, it won’t heat up as much as a poor conductor. Air is a very poor conductor of electricity and gets extremely hot when lightning passes through it.
Laboratory experiments by researchers have shown that lightning can heat the air it passes through to 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit! That means a direct hit from a lightning strike can melt a power cable or start a forest fire in seconds!
So the next time you see a bolt of lightning, just remember, that bolt you just witnessed heated up the atmosphere to a point that’s five times hotter than the surface of the sun.
Got a weather question that you’d like answered? E-mail me at weather@wkbw.com, and your weather question could be the subject of the next Josh’s Weather Academy.
