Tall buildings are lightning magnets. The Empire State Building, completed in 1931 and 102 stories tall, gets struck by lightning about 25 times a year on average. During particularly active thunderstorms, it can be hit multiple times in the same storm - including a famous incident when it was struck 8 separate times in a single night.
The building was designed with this in mind. A massive metal lightning rod sits at the top, connected to copper cables running down through the structure to a network of grounding rods buried deep beneath Manhattan. When lightning strikes the building, the entire electrical charge flows safely down the conductors and into the earth, leaving the building and everyone inside it unharmed.
Photographers love capturing lightning strikes on the Empire State Building, and dozens of stunning images exist of the iconic spire ablaze with electricity. Despite all the strikes over its 90-plus years, the building has never had a single fire or significant damage from lightning. It’s a real-time, large-scale demonstration of how lightning protection should work.
