Rare 'St. Elmo's Fire' Phenomenon Captured During Hurricane Idalia

MACDILL AFB, FL — Pilots at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa filmed a rare weather phenomenon known as St. Elmo's Fire ahead of Hurricane Idalia's landfall Tuesday.

According to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, base officials captured the lightning-like display as members of the 50th Air Refueling Squadron conducted an evacuation in preparation for Idalia.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, St. Elmo's Fire is a colorful discharge of atmospheric electricity that typically occurs during a thunderstorm.

While St. Elmo's Fire looks like lightning, it's not. IFL Science describes it as "a continuous electric spark" that occurs when the atmosphere becomes charged and strong enough to cause a discharge of plasma between an object and the air around it.

As a result, luminous plasma forms around rod-like or pointy objects such as ship masts, spires, chimneys and cell phone towers.

The phenomenon was named for St. Erasmus — or St. Elmo — the patron saint of Mediterranean sailors, who regarded St. Elmo’s fire as the visible sign of his guardianship over them. The phenomenon was considered to be a token of good luck because it is most pronounced near the end of a storm.