Three Bolts of Lightning Simultaneously Strike the Chicago Skyline During a Wild Summer Storm — Colossal



Photography

#Barry Butler
#Chicago
#lightning

Image © Barry Butler, shared with permission

Lightning might never strike the same place twice, but in Chicago this last week, it did strike three spots at the same time.

During the early hours of July 29, a volatile storm rolled into the Midwestern city, and photographer Barry Butler hunkered down west of the skyline to watch the action. “The skyscrapers in our town were getting battered with lightning. I thought it was just a matter of time before all three of the main skyscrapers in Chicago got it simultaneously,” he told PetaPixel. “The storm was too active for not to happen.”

Around 12:30 a.m., Butler was proved right and snapped a photo of the bolts illuminating the summer sky and hitting the city’s three tallest buildings, including the John Hancock Center and Willis Tower. While capturing three strikes in a single shot is already rare, this photo is even more stunning considering that, due to Lake Michigan, most storms wane or change direction before reaching downtown.

Find more images from the storm on Butler’s Instagram.

#Barry Butler
#Chicago
#lightning

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