Question

why are lightining rods normally at a higher elevation than the buildings they protect?

Answer 1

Answer:

Because the lightning will tend to hit the highest object in the proximity of where the discharge takes place. Lightning tends to come from cloud formations that generate an electrical change. That charge can go anywhere it wants…sideways, upwards, but typically downwards because the ground has an opposite charge. Lightning wants the shortest and fastest and the least resistant path to ground.