CHICAGO, IL - For the past 4 years, I have been working on an ongoing project to document upward lightning strikes to Chicago's skyscrapers. Lightning routinely strikes the Sears Tower, the John Hancock building and now the Trump Tower during most storms that pass over the city. So far I have made seven separate expeditions to the city to attempt capturing imagery and video. While upward lightning is common and occurs many times per year, it is very difficult to know ahead of time when a storm capable of these type of discharges will pass over the city. Out of the 7 trips to Chicago, I have captured upward strikes to the buildings on only three of them. I plan to continue this project indefinitely (or until I obtain satisfatory results).
A note about the June 23, 2010 event: A prolific upward lightning event occured in Chicago on the evening of June 23, 2010 and made international headlines. I unfortunately missed this event due to incorrectly forecasting the placement of the thunderstorms by evening. This event was typical of Chicago upward lightning. Despite rumors to the contrary, it is very common for upward discharges to initiate on more than one tall object simultaneously (see the FAQ below). In this case, several of the discharges hit all three major skyscrapers at the same time (Sears, Trump and Hancock). The photos and videos in the news were all authentic and unedited. You can read more about upward lightning in my online article on the subject.
Mythbusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman tackled the 'lightning never strikes twice' myth using my footage of the Sears Tower getting struck by lightning twice during a July 2006 storm in Chicago. You can view the video clip at the Discovery Channel web site.
The following are still frame captures from video (click each thumbnail to enlarge).
Chicago skyscraper lightning FAQ
What type of lightning hits the buildings in Chicago?
Most lightning strikes to the three major skyscrapers in Chicago - the Sears Tower (Willis), John Hancock, and Trump Tower - are the distinct 'upward moving' or 'ground-to-cloud' lightning. See this site's detailed article on this type of lightning. Conventional (downward) cloud-to-ground lightning can and does also hit the buildings downtown. Strikes to the shorter buildings (other than the tallest three) in the city are typically of the cloud-to-ground variety. In photos, cloud-to-ground lightning will consist of downward branching, while upward lightning will either be branchless or feature upward branching.
How often do the buildings in Chicago get struck?
Lightning strikes each of the three major skyscrapers in Chicago (Sears Tower, John Hancock, Trump Tower) anywhere from 50 to 100 times per year. It is common for a single thunderstorm to produce 2 or more discharge events to the structures. Events occur a few times a year where the buildings are hit a half a dozen times or more in one storm. Rare storms have been known to produce a dozen or more building strikes!
Can lightning hit more than one building at a time?
Yes - this is a common characteristic of 'upward' lightning. Upward lightning strokes frequently initiate off of multiple tall objects (like towers and skyscrapers) at a time. The three major skyscrapers in Chicago are no different - two or three can be struck at one time. In fact, it is actually rarer for only one tower in a cluster to get struck - multiple simultaneous hits are more typical. Most photos and video clips showing two or three of Chicago's skyscrapers getting hit by lightning simultaneously are authentic and accurate (IE, not 'Photoshopped' or comprised of multiple images).
Are the buildings damaged by all of the lightning strikes?
No - towers and skyscrapers are designed to handle numerous lightning strikes. The current is passed harmlessly through the structure to ground. Most towers/skyscrapers have a lightning conductor 'crown' frame at the top of the spires and antennas that are built to handle direct lightning strikes. When these 'crowns' are struck by lightning, the effect is like a powerful arc welder, producing a shower of sparks and little more than a pit or two on the surface of the metal. See up-close photos of lightning striking a TV tower tip.
