Smoke and heat from the massive wildfire in southeastern Oregon are creating so-called fire clouds over the blaze.
The Associated Press
The fire was so dangerous late Thursday and into Friday that authorities pulled out crews. Meteorologists this week also spotted a bigger, more extreme form of fire clouds — ones that can create their own weather, including “fire tornadoes." For four days in a row, the Bootleg Fire has generated multiple fire clouds that rise nearly 6 miles into the atmosphere and are “easily visible from 100 to 120 air miles away” , authorities said Friday.WHAT'S THE SCIENCE BEHIND THESE CLOUDS?
NASA has called the latter the “fire-breathing dragon of clouds” because they are so hot and big that they create their own weather. “Please send positive thoughts and well wishes to the firefighters. ... It’s a tough time for them right now,” the weather service said in a tweet.Multiple pyrocumulus clouds have been spotted for four consecutive days, and one of them on the southern flank of the fire partially collapsed Thursday, causing dangerous winds and embers to fall on crews.
Experts with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory said in a news release Friday that they are seeing a “record number” of these fire-induced clouds in North America this summer, including in Oregon, Montana and British Columbia.
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Oregon wildfire forms 'fire clouds' that pose danger belowPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Smoke and heat from a massive wildfire in southeastern Oregon are creating giant “fire clouds” over the blaze — dangerous columns of smoke and ash that can reach up to 6 miles (10 kilometers) in the sky and are visible from more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) away.
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