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SCIENCE

The Claim

The temperature of lightning is higher than the temperature of the surface of the Sun.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

This claim is well-supported. Lightning's plasma channel reaches approximately 30,000°C (54,000°F), while the Sun's surface (photosphere) is about 5,500°C (10,000°F) — making lightning roughly five times hotter. This is confirmed by Weather.gov, NASA, Britannica, and other authoritative sources. The claim correctly specifies "the surface of the Sun," which is the key qualifier. The only caveat: lightning's temperature is a brief, localized peak, not a sustained condition, and the Sun's core (~15 million°C) is vastly hotter than lightning.

Caveats

  • Lightning's cited temperature (~30,000°C) refers to a transient, localized plasma channel lasting microseconds — not a sustained or intrinsic property of lightning as a whole.
  • The Sun's core temperature (~15 million°C) is vastly hotter than lightning; the claim is only valid for the Sun's surface (photosphere), as stated.
  • Lightning temperature figures represent peak estimates with measurement uncertainty; sources use qualifiers like 'up to' rather than a single precise value.

The Receipts

  1. How Hot Is Lightning? - Weather.gov

    Weather.gov

  2. Our Sun: Facts - NASA Science

    NASA Science

  3. How hot is the Sun? | High Altitude Observatory

    High Altitude Observatory

  4. How hot is the Sun? - Cool Cosmos - Caltech

    Cool Cosmos - Caltech

  5. How Hot Can Lightning Get? | Plasma, Electricity, Temperature, & Thunder | Britannica

    Britannica

  6. How hot is the sun? | Space

    Space

  7. 5 times hotter than the Sun: Here's why lightning is so powerful

    BBC Science Focus Magazine

  8. ​LightningV/s Sun's surface: Which is hotter?​ - The Times of India

    The Times of India

  9. Lightning vs. The Sun: Why Lightning is Hotter Than the Sun's Surface - English Plus Podcast

    English Plus Podcast

  10. Is lightning really hotter than the sun's surface?

    Lenz

+ 2 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

lightningsurface of the Sun

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