Two wildfires burning in the western United States are so hot that they’re spurring the formation of “fire clouds” that can create their own
Excerpt from this story from the Associated Press (AP):
Two wildfires burning in the western United States — including one that has become a “megafire” on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon — are so hot that they are spurring the formation of “fire clouds” that can create their own erratic weather systems.
In Arizona, the wind-whipped wildfire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge is 9% contained and has charred more than 164 square miles (424 square kilometers) to become the largest fire now burning in the continental U.S. and one of the top 10 largest in recorded Arizona history. Getting around it would be roughly like driving from New York City to Washington, D.C.
Another large fire in Monroe, Utah, has burned 75 square miles (194 square kilometers) since July 13 and is 11% contained, officials said Thursday. Evacuation orders were issued Wednesday for several towns in the fire’s path, and scorched power poles caused electricity to be shut off in other nearby communities in south-central Utah.
Towering convection clouds known as pyrocumulus clouds have been spotted over Arizona’s blaze for seven consecutive days, fueling the fire with dry, powerful winds, fire information officer Lisa Jennings said. They form when air over the fire becomes superheated and rises in a large smoke column. The giant billowing clouds can be seen for hundreds of miles and can resemble an anvil.
Their more treacherous big brother, a fire-fueled thunderstorm known as the pyrocumulonimbus cloud, sent rapid winds shooting in all directions this week as a smoke column formed from the Utah fire then collapsed on itself, fire team information officer Jess Clark said.
“If they get high enough, they can also create downdrafts, and that’s something we really watch out for because that can quickly spread the fire and can be very dangerous for firefighters who are doing their work on the ground,” Jennings said.
