The temperature around the lightning channel can reach around 30,000°C. This figure is even several times hotter than the surface temperature of the Sun, which is around 5,500°C.
This enormous heat occurs in a very short time when electrical energy is released in the atmosphere. The air around the lightning heats up and expands rapidly.
This process then produces the shock waves that we hear as thunder. So the sound of thunder actually comes from air that is extremely heated by lightning.
Can you imagine, something that is only visible for a few seconds in the sky turns out to have an extraordinarily high temperature.
