"Lightning Doesn't Strike the Same Place Twice..Does it?!"

Everybody's heard that lightning doesn't the same place twice, but is this really true? In actuality, lightning is more likely to strike the same object over and over again than several different objects in the same location. Why? Lightning, like many things that travel through the atmosphere, prefers to move along a path of least resistance. If during a storm lightning struck the big oak tree in your back yard, you better believe it will most likely strike there again!

Lighting itself, is just a reaction that occurs when the weather attempts to eliminate a charge difference, positive and negative, in the atmosphere; it is the resolution. Extremely tall objects, such as the Empire State Building have been struck up to 100 times a year! Taller buildings are more likely to be struck by lightning because they narrow the gap between the atmosphere above and the ground below, making it easier for the charge compensation to take place. So if it is proven that such a famous object such as the Empire State Building has been struck hundreds of times since its installment into the New York skyline, why do people continue to believe this outlandish rumor?!

I believe it is for their own comfort, however artificial it may be, that people continue to believe the myth that lighting does not strike the same area twice. Besides monuments such as the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty, it is rather uncommon for one to witness lightning actually touching down on earth. Therefore, in an effort to ease the minds of the public with little chance of being disproven, the myth continues: Lightning doesn't strike twice..or does it? ;)


Sources:
http://o5.com/lightning-cant-strike-twice-and-other-pop-science-myths/
http://www.weatherimagery.com/blog/lightning-strike-twice/