What is the total KW energy of a lightning bolt from a thunderstorm?

Question

What is the total KW energy of a lightning bolt from a thunderstorm?

Answer 1

They ave an average of 10.5 gigawatt and if this energy is converted to heat energy it generates 28000 degree celsius heat (5 times of heat produced by sun)

Answer 2

An estimated average of 11 gigawatts.

A rare form called a mega strike could be as high as 300 gigawatts.

Answer 3

Any rating in watts is suspect, as a watt is a rate of energy usage, and lightning is not continuous.  So a wattage rating is just for the fraction of a second that the lightning lasts. A rating in energy would be more meaningful.

Wikipedia lists 500 MJ as typical.

Answer 4

It would depend entirely on the lightning bolt.  None are the same.

Answer 5

Normally it is current times the voltage. Some large lightning strikes have 1 billion amps in it. It would be hard to estimate the distance of the spark. It works out to be about 100,000 V. per inch...