Myth 3 of 10
3. Myth: lightning never strikes the same place twice
It does, and often. The Empire State Building in New York is struck by lightning about 20 to 25 times a year. Tall, isolated places are repeat targets precisely because they are tall and isolated.
Lightning seeks the easiest path
Lightning is an electrical discharge between the cloud and the ground, and it tends to follow the path of least resistance. Tall buildings, towers, isolated trees and hilltops shorten that path, which is why they are struck more often.
Nothing about a struck spot changes to protect it from the next bolt. If the storm stays nearby, the same place can be hit again minutes later. And a single lightning flash can touch the ground at more than one point at the same time.
That is why buildings use lightning rods, metal rods connected to the ground by cables. They do not attract lightning from afar: they offer a safe path for the discharge to reach the earth without passing through the structure. Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro has lightning rods and is struck several times a year.
The human record also disproves the saying. American forest ranger Roy Sullivan survived seven lightning strikes, on different occasions, between 1942 and 1977, and was entered in the Guinness World Records because of it.
Did you know? A practical safety rule: if you can hear thunder, the storm is close enough for lightning to reach you. The safest thing is to stay inside a building or a closed car.
