DHAKA: Lightning repeatedly struck the One World Trade Center tower in an epic display Friday night as a heavy rainstorm passed over New York City. 

The dramatic strikes were captured by a number of photographers and videographers—including a few lucky amateurs who just happened to have their cameras trained on the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. 

Photographer Gary Hershorn captured what are arguably the most detailed photos of the lightning in the exact moment it impacted the building’s top spire.

"It feels like I spend half my life shooting the New York skyline but have been waiting for years to have the perfect electrical storm around sunset," says Photographer Gary Hershorn in an interview with Time magazine.

BDST: 1950 HRS, MAY 25, 2014