That old saying is a sham. Bolts strike skyscrapers and other tall buildings twice, thrice, or more. New York City’s Empire State Building gets hit about 100 times each year.
When we see a lightning strike, we’re witnessing the discharge of electricity that has built up in a cloud, which is so strong that it breaks through the ionized air. This creates a stepped leader, or the lightning bolt, that travels downward until it reaches the ground. It is an incredibly quick process that takes only about 30 milliseconds. And right after lightning strikes, it reverberates in quick succession. So, essentially, multiple strikes can happen at the same place in this short period of time. Technically, the lightning is already striking more than once. Even during the same thunderstorm, there is nothing stopping a lightning bolt from striking the same place it had struck previously, even if it was as little as a few seconds earlier or as much as centuries later.
Picture Credit : Google