Lightning Strikes Twice: Empire State Building Video Goes Viral

April 14, 2011— -- They say lightning may not strike twice, but an electrifying YouTube video making the rounds online shows New York's Empire State Building taking not just one, not two, but three, hits... in a row.

During the raucous thunderstorm that swept through New York City Tuesday night, the YouTube user ESBisMyMuse trained a videocamera on the Empire State Building and captured about 30 seconds of video showing lightning striking the iconic skyscraper three times in succession.

"I caught three direct strikes to the Empire State Building lightning rod after midnight on 4/13/11 during a severe thunderstorm. I actually saw a fourth direct hit, but sadly wasn't filming at the time. I've never seen so many hits on the ESB in one night. It was ridiculous! But so much fun to watch," ESBisMyMuse wrote in the video's description.

The video, which has racked up more than 44,000 thousand clicks on YouTube, is quickly making its way across the Internet though Facebook, Twitter and news reports.

Empire State Building Is Hit by Lightning About 100 Times Each Year

But though the lightning show makes for good online entertainment, for the Empire State Building -- the tallest building in New York -- sustaining multiple strikes of lightning is just business as usual.

Each year, it's said that the 103-story building is hit about 100 times.

"Lightning tends to strike the tallest building in the immediate area," said John Jensenius, a lighting safety specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. "With the Empire State Building Being the tallest building, obviously it's more likely to be struck than buildings in that area."

In a typical lightning strike, a so-called "step leader" (or channel of charged particles emanating from a cloud) moves toward the ground looking for something to meet it, he said. In the case of New York, the most convenient object is the Empire State Building.