ROANOKE, Va. – The 50th Air Refueling Squadron with the U.S. Air Force witnessed a rare phenomenon, and it was all caught on camera during its evacuation from Hurricane Idalia.
Watch the video below, as the Squadron saw St. Elmo’s Fire Tuesday.
All aircraft on the installation have been evacuated/secured in preparation for #HurricaneIdalia . During the evacuation, the 50th ARS recorded St. Elmo’s fire, a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created in an atmospheric electric field. pic.twitter.com/tqUGhfm8iN
— MacDill AFB (@MacDill_AFB) August 29, 2023
According to the National Weather Service, St. Elmo’s Fire is “the glow on a masthead produced by an extreme buildup of electrical charge.”
The American Meteorological Society says this will happen when the electric field is high, which is common in and around the center of a tropical system.
It typically occurs “at the tips of sharp conductors that enhance the electric field,” which is why pilots and mariners are more likely to see this kind of phenomenon.