[Physics] How much power in a lightning strike

Question

The Biblical story of 1 Kings 18:20-40 relates how a lightning strike ignited a bulls carcass, as well as a wood pyre, both of which had been thoroughly wetted with abundant water. Is there enough power in a lightning strike to do this? Does the power of a mountain top lightning strike differ from the power of a lightning strike elsewhere?

Answer 1

In this link the following estimates are given

From articles in Windpower Engineering & Development, we learn that lightning bolts carry from 5 kA to 200 kA and voltages vary from 40 kV to 120 kV.

Here we find an average estimate :

An average bolt of lightning, striking from cloud to ground, contains roughly one billion (1,000,000,000) joules of energy. This is no small amount, enough to power a 60-watt lightbulb for six months plus a forgotten open door refrigerator for a day. In the forms of electricity, light, heat and thunder, this energy is all released by the flash in a matter of milli- or even microseconds.