A single bolt of lightning is five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

The surface of the sun is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but a lightning bolt can reach a staggering 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This incredible heat happens because lightning is a concentrated blast of plasma. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that lightning travels at 270,000 miles per hour. As it moves, it rips through the air and heats it up in less than a blink of an eye.This sudden heat makes the air explode outward faster than the speed of sound. This explosion creates a shockwave that we hear as a loud boom of thunder. In 1968, a researcher named Martin Uman published famous work explaining how these temperatures work. A typical bolt carries about 1 billion joules of energy. That is enough power to keep a light bulb glowing for six months straight.The electricity in a strike is also incredibly strong, reaching 30,000 amperes. This flow of energy turns the gases in our air into the bright blue-white light we see. The heat is so powerful that if lightning hits sand, it can melt it instantly. This creates hollow glass tubes called fulgurites. You can sometimes find these 'fossilized lightning' tubes on beaches in Florida or in the Sahara Desert after a big storm.