" It's one of those phrases people use to describe rare events or unlikely coincidences. The idea feels intuitive – what are the odds of lightning hitting the exact same spot again? Yet this common ...

Lightning researchers expect lightning could become more frequent as temperatures rise. Photo by Rick Lipscomb, courtesy NOAA. The age-old maxim says lightning never strikes the same place twice.

For generations, people have passed around the comforting idea that lightning never strikes the same place twice. But nature doesn’t follow our sayings. In reality, lightning plays favorites, and ...