For the third day in a row, the Washington Monument is closed as crews wait for a part to fix an electronic access system after it was damaged by a lightning strike over the weekend. The system operates the doors and elevator at the popular tourist site.

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       Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said the part hasn’t come in and it’s not known when it will arrive. Until then, crews cannot perform the repairs, he said, so he had no estimate as to when the monument would reopen.

       The lightning hit about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. No one was hurt.

       Officials had said Monday that they expected the monument to reopen Tuesday.

       How often does lightning strike the Washington Monument?

       Litterst said the monument is regularly struck by lightning, especially in the summer months when there are more storms. An analysis by The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang, done in June 2020, found that lightning hits the monument a couple of times a year on average, but that the number of strikes varies from summer to summer.

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       According to the CWG, it was at least the second time the Washington Monument has been struck by lightning this year. On June 14, a bolt hit the tip of the monument and was photographed by Kevin Ambrose. In June 2020, a photographer in Arlington captured a lightning bolt hitting the monument.

       What made this latest incident different is that it was the “first time we’ve had any issue with the electronics getting scrambled,” Litterst said.

       The monument’s electrical system was recently upgraded, and he said the elevator was fine after the lightning strike, but “this may be one of those things where we’re finding out [the system’s] sensitivities.” The electrical system allows key cards to work for staffers so they can enter the building and access calls and send the elevator, he said.

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       There is a “grounding system” on the top of the monument that grounds lightning strikes, as well as other surge protection systems, according to Litterst.

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       But Litterst said the “width and size of the bolt were quite impressive,” which may have played a role in the damage.

       The lightning strike this past weekend occurred as an intense complex of thunderstorms moved over the Washington region, triggering flash flood warnings. Parts of Alexandria, where up to four to five inches of rain fell in less than two hours, were hit hardest as floodwaters entered homes and submerged numerous roadways.

       The Washington Monument had to shut down in March 2020 when the coronavirus struck the D.C. region. It briefly reopened in October but closed again in January. It reopened in mid-July.

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       All visitors are instructed that they must wear masks “regardless of vaccination status inside the Washington Monument.” To buy tickets, visitors should go to recreation.gov. No tickets are available at the site.

       Since the monument reopened in July, officials said, ticket reservations have been filled every day. The site is operating at a reduced capacity because of the pandemic. Litterst said the Park Service probably will increase visitor capacity for the monument once the District’s “covid numbers are moving in a downward direction.”