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"Fire Tornadoes" And Pyrocumulus

Clouds Cause Northern California
Wildfire To Spread Erratically
By Meera Dolasia on July 31, 2018

Though wildfires are a common

occurrence during California’s hot,
dry summers, the state’s biggest
fires don’t usually strike until August.
However, this year, the season
started early, in February, with the
Pleasant Fire that took about six
weeks to contain and scorched over
2,000 acres. Since then, there have
been over 20 blazes across the state.
However, none have been as
Carr Fire Shasta County (Photo Credit: BayArea
Firefighter via Facebook) terrifying as the Carr Fire that is
currently wreaking havoc in Northern California’s Shasta County.
Ignited by a vehicle’s mechanical failure in the Shasta-Trinity
National Forest on July 23, the 45-square-mile Carr Fire initially
appeared to be well under control. However, things took a turn for
the worse on Thursday, July 27, after the intense heat from the
blazes and the 60 mph wind gusts gave rise to “fire tornadoes.”
Also called fire whirls or firenados, the natural phenomena occur
when the ground-level air, superheated by the flames, rises. The void
left behind is instantly filled by cold air. As more and more air gets
pulled in, it begins to rotate, creating a tornado-shaped spiral of
flames as it comes in contact with the fire. In addition to toppling
trees and blowing off rooftops, the powerful “tornadoes” also lift
burning embers into the atmosphere. The winds carry the embers to
surrounding areas, resulting in new fires that are miles away from
the center. The floating embers also
enable the wildfires to jump rivers,
highways, and fire breaks.
In the case of the Carr Fire, the
tornadoes increased the blaze’s
intensity, making it erratic and hard
to control. On Thursday night, the
now fast-moving fire jumped across
the Sacramento River and reached
the subdivisions of Redding, forcing
many of the city’s 92,000 residents
Image Credit: Senior Fire Tornado via Twitter
to flee their homes with little
warning.

Spectacular pyrocumulus clouds caused by the

Carr Fire (Photo Credit: Jim Mackensen
To make matters worse, the extreme heat from the wildfire is
producing rare mushroom-cloud-like formations known as
pyrocumulus clouds. They are similar to regular cumulus clouds,
except that the rising ground air gets its energy from the flames, not
the sun. The hot air also contains moisture evaporated from the
burning vegetation. Formed when the warm moisture-laden air
meets the cooler atmospheric air, the towering clouds generate
thunderstorms, lightning, and localized winds, making the fire even
more volatile and harder to predict.
As of July 31, the Carr Fire, already
the seventh most destructive in
California’s history, has scorched
over 100,000 acres and destroyed
more than 1100 structures, including
723 homes. The wildfire has also
claimed six lives, including those of
Carr Fire (Photo Credit: Cal Fire via Facebook) two firefighters. The good news is
that the 3,600 firefighters who are working feverishly to battle the
deadly blaze made substantial progress on Monday (July 30) night,
managing to contain the blaze 27 percent, up 10 percent since
Sunday (July 28) night. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate long
enough for them gain total control.
Resources: CNN.com, Latimes.com, CBSnews.com
Vocabulary
atmospheric

blazes

cumulus

embers

erratic

evaporated

feverishly

flee

formations

havoc

ignited

intense

occurrence

predict

scorched

spiral

substantial

vehicle’s

void

volatile