California Blazes Are Burning Hot Enough to Spur Fire Tornadoes

(Bloomberg) -- 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.

The lightning and tornadoes generated by pyrocumulus clouds ramp up the danger faced by firefighters trying to control the blazes, which have torched tens of thousands of acres in California, forcing people to flee their homes. California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday declared a state of emergency only days into the peak of the wildfire season.

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