The thunderstorm that ripped through New York City on Sunday night provided some much-needed relief from a weekend of sweltering temperatures. And as is often the case with storms over Manhattan, it also gave local photographers the opportunity to snap pictures of the city's skyline against a particularly dramatic backdrop.
In this case, photographer Nick Carwile told a subreddit forum devoted to photography that he captured this amazing shot of lightning striking One World Trade Center during a 30-second exposure taken during last night's storm.
"One in a million shot... got over-excited," Carwile explained in the comments of his post, which earned more than 10,000 "upvotes" on the social news site at time of writing,
Other commenters compared the photo to the climactic scene from the 1984 film "Ghostbusters," in which an evil spirit is summoned from another dimension atop an art deco building on Central Park West.
The view in Carwile's photo appears to be looking south from a building near Washington Square Park. A New York University athletic court can be seen on a rooftop in the foreground.
In an email to The Huffington Post, Carwile explained:
"I'm from Anchorage, Alaska and I'm visiting my aunt and uncle in NY for three weeks as a graduation present, and last night I stayed up to see the thunderstorm (as I had never really experienced a real one in AK). After seeing all the pictures of lightning on Reddit recently, I decided to give it a try. I got my camera out and started taking extended-exposure pictures, and after about 30 minutes of taking pictures, I happened to have the shutter open at exactly the right moment. I felt extremely lucky to have captured the raw power of the bolts so well, and I totally wasn't expecting to get anything nearly this good."
In July 2012, photographer Ryan Brenizer took a foreboding panorama of New York City when violent storms swept through the city.
This article has been updated to include the photographer's full name at his request.
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