Lightning never strikes the same place twice
Lightning frequently strikes the same location multiple times, often during the same storm. Tall conductors like the Empire State Building are struck approximately 25 times per year. The saying is a metaphor, not a fact of physics.
What we know
Lightning is an electrical discharge seeking the path of least resistance between a charged cloud and the ground. Any structure that provides a good conductive path and reaches high into the air will repeatedly attract strikes, because the same physical properties that made it attractive the first time persist after each strike.
NASA's research on lightning strike location, developed to protect Space Shuttle launch pads, confirmed that lightning often strikes the same place twice. The Empire State Building in New York City is struck approximately 25 times per year. Tall radio and cell towers, mountains, and isolated trees are repeatedly struck for the same physical reasons.
Individual strikes often hit the same spot multiple times in rapid succession during the same discharge event, as return strokes propagate along the already ionized channel. This explains why lightning flickers: each flicker is a separate stroke along the same path.
The myth that lightning avoids previously struck locations is not only false but potentially dangerous, as it may encourage people to take shelter in spots believed to be immune. Roy Sullivan, a US Park Service ranger, was struck by lightning seven times between 1942 and 1977 and survived all strikes, providing a vivid empirical counterexample to the popular saying.
Common claims
- Lightning avoids places it has already struckFalse - physics has no such preference
- The Empire State Building is rarely struckFalse - struck about 25 times per year
- Being in a previously struck location is saferFalse and potentially dangerous belief