> A thunderclap happens when lightning strikes, heating the air around the bolt to as high "as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 5 times hotter than the surface of the

> A thunderclap happens when lightning strikes, heating the air around the bolt to as high "as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun," the National Weather Service said. "Immediately after the flash, the air cools and contracts quickly. This rapid expansion and contraction (create) the sound wave that we hear as thunder." I never knew that. I always thought thunder was caused by currents of warm and cold air rushing against each other.