- How hot is a single lighning bolt?
The tempurature of the air around a lightning bolt is about 54,000 degrees fahrenheit. Amazingly some people have still lived after being srtuck by lightning. For a reference that is 6 times hotter than the surface of the sun. For example Roy Sullivan was hit by lightning 7 times between 1942 to 1977. As long as the lightning does not pass through the heart or the spinal column the victim should be alright. The average 100 watt bolt for up to 3 months. Lighning heats the atmosphere so rapidly that the air molecules expand violently causing a rumble called thunder.
The actual temperature is as hot as i am:)
That is really interesting stuff. There are over 16 million lightning storms on the earth every year. Lightning storms can also happen in volcanic eruptions or there is lightning called dry lightning that is the cause of some forest fires. Dry lightning is when there is no precipitation at the surface but it comes out of cumulonimbus clouds or pyrocumulus clouds.
ReplyDeleteLightning can stike people up to thirty miles away. Well thats what scientist believe. People say you have a 1 and 5000 chance to get stuck by lightning in your lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how that guy that was struck 7 times and survived. Most people cant even survive 1 time of being struck.
ReplyDelete