Lightning Can Strike the Same Place Twice

The popular saying that lightning never strikes the same place twice is more of a metaphorical expression about the unlikelihood of a rare event reoccurring than a statement of fact. In reality, not only can lightning strike the same spot more than once, it often does. Lightning is fundamentally a massive discharge of electricity, and like any electrical current, it seeks the path of least resistance to the ground. This is why tall, isolated objects are frequent targets. For instance, the Empire State Building is struck by lightning approximately 25 times each year.

The science behind this phenomenon lies in the way lightning forms. Within a storm cloud, there is a separation of electrical charges, with the bottom of the cloud typically becoming negatively charged. This induces a positive charge on the ground below. When the electrical potential between the cloud and the ground becomes strong enough to overcome the air's insulating properties, a channel of ionized air, called a stepped leader, descends from the cloud. As it nears the ground, an upward-moving positive charge, or streamer, rises from the tallest objects in the vicinity, which can include skyscrapers, trees, or mountain peaks.

When the downward leader connects with an upward streamer, a powerful return stroke of electricity flashes up to the cloud, which is the bright flash we see as lightning. Because this process is all about finding the most efficient path for the electrical discharge, any location that has already proven to be a good conduit for lightning is likely to be struck again in future storms. In fact, a single lightning flash can be composed of multiple return strokes that follow the same path in rapid succession, technically striking the same place several times in just one event.