Warm, sunny and St. Elmo's Fire
Good morning Augusta.
This morning it is partly cloudy. High of 84F. Winds from the WSW at 5 to 10
mph.
Tonight it will be partly cloudy with fog overnight. Low of 57F. Winds less
than 5 mph.
The readings from my own instruments are:
The humidity is 86% with a Dew Point of 65ºF and a wind chill of 69.4ºF.
The temperature is 69.4ºF.
We have no winds that are measurable at this time.
Our Barometric pressure is 30.03 HPA 1017 and rising with a weather graphic
indicating sun.
The UV rating is 1 out of 16, sunset will be at 7:38 PM with Moon Rise at
7:02 a.m. and the moon phase is a full moon.
For the pilots out there, Raw Metar readings are:
METAR KAUG 201053Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 20/15 A3002 RMK AO2 SLP163
T02000150
Visibility is 10.0 miles/16.1 kilometers with great clear conditions for
another day.
We've had no rain here in the past 24 hours.
What causes the weather phenomenon known as " St. Elmo's fire"?
First identified as an electrical phenomenon by Benjamin Franklin in 1749,
St. Elmo's fire is a bluish-white plasma caused by the release of electrons
in a strong electric field (200 or more volts per cm); the electrons have
enough energy to ionize atoms in the air and cause them to glow. The
phenomenon appears near pointed objects because electrical fields generated
by charged surfaces are strongest where curves are sharpest.
St. Elmo's fire is an electroluminescent coronal discharge caused by the
ionization of the air during thunderstorms inside of a strong electric
field. Although referred to as "fire", St. Elmo's fire is in fact a low
density, relatively low temperature plasma caused by massive atmospheric
electrical potential differences which exceed the dielectric breakdown value
of air at around 3 megavolts per meter.
Here is the tail end result of "Real" St Elmos. The phenomena seen is not it
but very interesting all the same.
"Physically, St. Elmo's fire is a bright pink-purple glow, appearing like
fire in some circumstances, often in double or triple jets, from tall,
sharply pointed structures such as masts, spires and chimneys, and on
aircraft wings. It is named such because the phenomenon commonly occurs at
the mastheads of ships during thunderstorms at sea, and St. Elmo is the
patron saint of sailors."
In Melville's "Moby Dick" and Huston's movie version, St. Elmo's Fire
happens during a vicious storm. In the book, Ahab's harpoon catches it and
the crew gets scared; Ahab simply blows it out. In the Huston movie, Peck's
Ahab threatens Starbuck with a lance when the latter tries to cut away some
ropes so the Pequod doesn't capsize in the storm. When Ahab raises his lance
after the rigging gets the Fire, the lance too glows with it and Ahab simply
wipes the Fire from his lance.
*A utube video of St. Elmo's fire shot on the water in Amsterdam can be
viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKORBOCRYng
It is not the best video of it, but I was unable to locate any better video
online of it on aircraft wings or tall objects such as towers, ship masts or
spires.
This morning it is partly cloudy. High of 84F. Winds from the WSW at 5 to 10
mph.
Tonight it will be partly cloudy with fog overnight. Low of 57F. Winds less
than 5 mph.
The readings from my own instruments are:
The humidity is 86% with a Dew Point of 65ºF and a wind chill of 69.4ºF.
The temperature is 69.4ºF.
We have no winds that are measurable at this time.
Our Barometric pressure is 30.03 HPA 1017 and rising with a weather graphic
indicating sun.
The UV rating is 1 out of 16, sunset will be at 7:38 PM with Moon Rise at
7:02 a.m. and the moon phase is a full moon.
For the pilots out there, Raw Metar readings are:
METAR KAUG 201053Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 20/15 A3002 RMK AO2 SLP163
T02000150
Visibility is 10.0 miles/16.1 kilometers with great clear conditions for
another day.
We've had no rain here in the past 24 hours.
What causes the weather phenomenon known as " St. Elmo's fire"?
First identified as an electrical phenomenon by Benjamin Franklin in 1749,
St. Elmo's fire is a bluish-white plasma caused by the release of electrons
in a strong electric field (200 or more volts per cm); the electrons have
enough energy to ionize atoms in the air and cause them to glow. The
phenomenon appears near pointed objects because electrical fields generated
by charged surfaces are strongest where curves are sharpest.
St. Elmo's fire is an electroluminescent coronal discharge caused by the
ionization of the air during thunderstorms inside of a strong electric
field. Although referred to as "fire", St. Elmo's fire is in fact a low
density, relatively low temperature plasma caused by massive atmospheric
electrical potential differences which exceed the dielectric breakdown value
of air at around 3 megavolts per meter.
Here is the tail end result of "Real" St Elmos. The phenomena seen is not it
but very interesting all the same.
"Physically, St. Elmo's fire is a bright pink-purple glow, appearing like
fire in some circumstances, often in double or triple jets, from tall,
sharply pointed structures such as masts, spires and chimneys, and on
aircraft wings. It is named such because the phenomenon commonly occurs at
the mastheads of ships during thunderstorms at sea, and St. Elmo is the
patron saint of sailors."
In Melville's "Moby Dick" and Huston's movie version, St. Elmo's Fire
happens during a vicious storm. In the book, Ahab's harpoon catches it and
the crew gets scared; Ahab simply blows it out. In the Huston movie, Peck's
Ahab threatens Starbuck with a lance when the latter tries to cut away some
ropes so the Pequod doesn't capsize in the storm. When Ahab raises his lance
after the rigging gets the Fire, the lance too glows with it and Ahab simply
wipes the Fire from his lance.
*A utube video of St. Elmo's fire shot on the water in Amsterdam can be
viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKORBOCRYng
It is not the best video of it, but I was unable to locate any better video
online of it on aircraft wings or tall objects such as towers, ship masts or
spires.
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