Quick question about the St. Elmo fire phenomenon

eriksala

Quick question about the St. Elmo fire phenomenon, what would be the ideal conditions for its formation? I tried with the worst storm possible, with the weather radar completely filled in red and nothing. I know it's rare, but I wanted to replicate it to do some filming.

Black Square

I don't think I've answered this anywhere, because I wanted people to discover it on their own, but I suppose it's been a while now since the feature has been out. The formula weights the following factors, since there is no access to information that would better predict an electrically charged atmosphere within the simulation:

High altitude (but below 10,000ft, due to limits on how precipitation is generated in the sim.
High temperature at sea level (like 100°F).
High airspeed (like 200kts indicated).
Heavy rain.
Inside of a cloud.

Good luck!

eriksala

I managed to catch the phenomenon "naturally" in a storm near Japan a few days ago and it's probably one of the best features I've ever seen in the sim, congratulations on the work. I will try to film within these parameters, thanks for the answer

Black Square

Glad you were able to catch it! I wanted to be as rare and special as it is in real aircraft (it's one of the only items on my aviation bucket list), but sometimes I worry that I made it too rare to be enjoyed in a flight simulator. If you do get a good video, be sure to share it with the community, since I don't think many people have seen it!