If the lighting is SOO HOT, why dont we feel it hot that split second?

Question

Or if we were struck next to a lighting, would we feel the heat or not?

Answer 1

You might not feel it, but if you are struck, one of the consequences can be severe burns. Fortunately (or unfortunately), lightning plays havoc with the brain, so you wouldn't be aware of it at the moment.

"The air near a lightning strike is heated to 50,000 degrees F hotter than the surface of the sun!" (1)

**Edit** By the way, DirtyD, it's knuclehead, not Knuckled Head. Let he who is without sin . . .

Answer 2

Knuckled head - First off it's "lightning" not "lighting". I thought you were talking about light bulbs until you mentioned getting struck.

I don't know how hot lightning actually is but the reason you don't feel it is because it's so fast and usually far away. How the heck could you feel that?

And how do you get struck "next" to a lighting"? You either get struck or you do not get struck. If it's next to you then you didn't get struck, but yes you would feel something. Not sure if it would be heat or not. If it hit you (you got struck) then you'd really feel it but you'd probably never remember any of it. Most likely you'd only feel it (burns) afterwords IF you lived.

Answer 3

I'm a storm chaser and we've had several close calls with lightning. You can definitely feel the heat if you're close enough, but you do have to be fairly close. I'd say a quarter of a mile or less. Beyond that and the air absorbs most of the heat before it reaches you. Sure makes for some good thunder though!

Answer 4

The nerves of the lighting would make our nerves very too bright in that split second so our hotness would be felt after we were killt by getting struck by it's heat. Or maybe the heat of the light would feel cold if it struck us in less than that split second.

Answer 5

If you were close enough to a lightning strike without being struck by it, you'd feel the heat alright. We don't feel an average strike because they are fairly far away and air is a great insulator.

Answer 6

When you say her body gets hot do you mean the whole thing or just parts of it? If it's the whole thing then look into menopause, if just parts of it get hot it could be from pinched muscles. Without that information it's hard to figure it out.

Answer 7

my brother in law was hit by lightening this year while in a boat!he says that you do feel the heat and smell the burning!hes alright now,but that person that says you loose your memory is wrong because he says that he remembers every second!the reason youy cant feel heat from lightening is that it comes in a flash so quick that it doesnt have time to heat up the atmosphere!it takes longer to heat up the air than how long the lightening stays!

Answer 8

You might feel the heat, or the lightning might have damaged your nerves so much, that you don't even realize it. You could also go into shock.

Answer 9

If you where hit by lightning you wouldn't feel it because you would be in shock or you would be past out and if you don't don't die you would feel the burning where ever it hit you first like the harm,leg,etc.

Answer 10

...
When you are hit by lightning you don't know it hit you.
Most people go into shock or lose their memory. Sure it lights fire to dry grass but we can't feel it.

And if it hit close to you you would run screaming for your life (IF your lucky.)