Is lightning hotter than the Sun? A lightning bolt can heat the air it passes through to about 50,000°F (27,760°C), about 5 times hotter than the Sun’s surface at roughly 10,000°F (5,500°C), says the U.S. National Weather Service. The Sun’s core is far hotter, about 27 million °F (15 million °C). That sudden heat makes the air expand and then snap back, and the rapid swing creates the sound wave we hear as thunder.
Sources:
– NOAA National Weather Service — How Hot Is Lightning?:
– NOAA National Weather Service — Understanding Lightning: Thunder:
– NASA Science — Sun Facts:
Facts checked on October 8, 2026.
Image credits:
– “Lightning Strikes at Pad 39B” — NASA · Public domain (NASA) · NASA Image and Video Library ·
– “Second Hot Fire Test of SLS Rocket Core Stage” — NASA/Robert Markowitz · Public domain (NASA) · NASA Image and Video Library ·
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