Lightning can strike multiple times in the same place because the electric charges present in the clouds are attracted to high conductive objects, such as trees or buildings. This creates a preferential path for the lightning, thereby increasing the chances of repeated strikes.
When a lightning bolt forms, it always seeks the path of least resistance in the air. However, this explosive and chaotic environment allows it to take several paths at once. Sometimes, an initial discharge creates a sort of ionized channel, an ideal passage: the subsequent discharges can then easily flow into it, giving the impression that the lightning strikes exactly the same spot multiple times. Yet each path taken remains slightly different, due to mini-variations in the air and its changing conductivity. It's like a river; it flows roughly in the same place but never exactly the same way.
When the humidity of the air is high, it increases the conductivity of the atmosphere and encourages the reuse of the same path for successive lightning strikes. After a first strike, a sort of temporary "conductive channel" forms by heating and ionizing the air along its path. This state of the ionized channel can last for a few fractions of a second, just enough to allow several lightning strikes to follow exactly the same route. The more humid and warm the air is, the longer this channel tends to remain stable, increasing the likelihood that the same place will be struck again. Light winds also facilitate this situation by preventing the conductive channel from dispersing quickly.
Tall structures, such as trees, skyscrapers, or metal antennas, naturally attract lightning because they reduce the distance electricity has to travel to reach the ground. These tall and often conductive objects facilitate the work of lightning by strongly concentrating electric fields at their peak. It's like offering the lightning an easier and less exhausting path to the ground. The taller, thinner, and sharper the structure, the more easily it accumulates an electric charge at its top, thereby increasing its chances of being struck multiple times by lightning during the same storm.
When a storm approaches, very powerful localized electric fields establish themselves around certain objects on the ground, such as isolated trees, antennas, or steeples. These fields act like sorts of electric magnets: they facilitate the formation of the lightning discharge channel by gradually attracting the charges contained in the clouds toward a specific point on the ground. Where these electric accumulations are significant, the air ionizes more easily, making repeated lightning strikes very likely in the same location. In other words, once a place strongly concentrates electricity, it becomes an ideal candidate for several successive strikes.
A lightning bolt can reach temperatures of up to about 30,000 °C, which is nearly five times the surface temperature of the Sun!
Although it is often said that "lightning never strikes the same place twice," in reality, it regularly strikes tall structures such as skyscrapers or trees multiple times in succession.
During a thunderstorm, the Earth is struck by about 100 lightning bolts per second worldwide, which amounts to nearly eight million strikes each day!
Lightning rods do not attract lightning but simply provide a safer path to channel electricity to the ground, thereby protecting buildings and their occupants.
Yes, indeed, although it is less common, some lightning strikes move from the ground to the clouds. This phenomenon is often observed under specific conditions where the ground accumulates significant electrical charges.
Tall structures such as skyscrapers, antennas, isolated trees, towers, and steeples have an increased likelihood of being struck by lightning due to their height and their ability to attract electrical discharges.
The lightning rod does not completely eliminate the risk of damage, but it significantly reduces it by allowing the electrical discharge to be directed to the ground through a safe path, thereby limiting potential harm to buildings and people.
Lightning can occur at a distance of up to 15 to 20 kilometers from the active center of the storm, a phenomenon often referred to as heat lightning.
It is not advisable to stay under a tree during storms, as trees are high and conductive points that can attract lightning, significantly increasing the risk of danger for someone nearby.
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