Climate Adaptation
California Blazes Are Burning Hot Enough to Spur Fire Tornadoes
- Updrafts can draw in wind and create a billowing pyrocumulus
- The dense clouds can resemble an erupting volcano’s plume
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As if California wildfires weren’t bad enough, their smoke has started to form self-contained weather systems capable of spinning out lightning and so-called firenadoes.
As wildfires burn, the heat released causes an updraft that draws in winds. If the blaze is big enough, the rising air can create a billowing pyrocumulus, or fire cloud, that can stir dry lightning and even push more wind into the mix. The dense cloud can resembles an erupting volcano’s plume.