How Firestorms Form

Under the right conditions, wildfires can form clouds and generate firestorms, which last far longer than normal thunderstorms.

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
Pyrocumulonimbus cloud - a type of cumulonimbus cloud that forms that forms above wildfires and even volcanic eruptions, which can create thunderstorms
Virga - rain that evaporates before it hits the ground
Updraft - upward moving air in a thunderstorm
Downdraft - downward moving air in a thunderstorm

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Nathaniel Schroeder | Music

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[aurelspecker]

There is also another kind of "unlimited" thunderstorm: When you put a hill in the middle. On the one side, the moist hot air rises, and on the second side it condenses and rains out. Like this, the wind and rain doesn't cancel out the "feeding" and the cycle keeps on. This can create stationary thunderstorm that stand still for up to a few hours. In this case, the rain (a lot of it) does reach the ground and can overcome local drainage capacity very easily.

[jeffreyhoon]

"Heavy rainstorms usually don't last more than an hour"
Tropical rainstorms: *Allow us to introduce ourselves*

[rhmw]

Then, everything changed when the firestorm attacked

[.]

During last year's crazy California fire season, the Loyalton and Creek fires produced confirmed fire tornadoes, the Hog fire rained hail down on burnt ground, and the Lake fire and North Complex also had explosive pyrocumulonimbus behaviour.

[mevinbabu]

Thunderstorm: I'm the worst storm to ever exist!
*firestorm has entered the chat*

[infinity]

“Everyone gangster till it starts raining fire”

[bluetoad]

1:31 Also the evaporation of water cools down the surrounding air. (A process refer to as evaporation cooling) Because colder air is more dense than the air around it, it'll surge downwards, leading to the production of dry downbursts and microburst, which can further help spread the wildfires.

[TheGIGACapitalist]

Fires cause storms which cause more fires...

Seems like a cycle that we should be trying to prevent and monitor.

[harrygao]

Thunderstorm: I'm the most powerful storm!
Firestorm: Hold my beer.

[ummhuraira]

Here as California is burning... thank you for the explanation.

[ambermay]

The winds created by fire storms are also increased which helps fan the flames even at night when the cooler weather usually gives firefighters a chance to get things under control. It can also suddenly lower the temperature and create mini cyclones made up of flame. When large enough, the storms can take on a cyclone appearance when viewing cloud/weather maps. The erratic winds make fighting the fire difficult and dangerous as its constantly changing direction and sending the firefront all over the place.

The 2019-202 Australian fires featured several firestorms, one of which I was in. It was an eerie experience and even as a former RFS firefighter, not one I'm eager to repeat. Hearing the shouts of 'confirmed firestorm' over the radio was an intense experience. The lightning created several new fires and the wind was sending embers kilometers ahead of the firefront. Several firefighter friends were caught in when the winds suddenly pushed the firefront their direction trapping them in their truck. A lot of homes were lost with many of them being firefighters out fighting other fires. It swept through the area so fast they didn't have a chance to save anything.
The one over my area dropped temps down to below 10C (middle of a 40C summer) with dead quiet in the eye of the storm that was large enough to cover a small suburb. We all had to turn on our heaters in the middle of the day and joked we should just go warm ourselves with the fires at the end of the block.

[thunderblossom]

The thunder clouds produced by wildfires are pyrocumulonimbus clouds. My favorite weather word

[AtarahDerek]

Fun fact: A pyrocumulonibus that became a supercell is responsible for the strongest tornado on record in California. Storms generated by fires in the last few years have produced at least two major tornadoes that were each rated EF3, with wind speeds of 136 to 165 mph. These are true, mesocyclonic tornadoes. Since they are born of fire, they are known as fire tornadoes, and are not to be confused with fire whirls/devils or firespouts (the former is a whirlwind within a fire, and the latter is a fair weather spout generated by a fire). The first confirmed fire tornado was an F2 that was captured on film in Australia and later confirmed to be exactly what the camera person thought it was.

[Spencer]

This info is amazing! Thanks for giving all of us a good understanding of the environment!

[jvalcor]

Ive been with you for years and I love your content.

[jamesmax]

This happens in the game Rimworld a lot, a thunderstorm causes fires and then the game recognizes there's too much fire and so summons a thunderstorm to put out the fires, sometimes it can take a while to finally cancel out.

[anikabialecki]

Hey, curious Canadian teen here! Could you do a video on permaculture? I've heard that its very self sustaining (not a lot of work on the farmers part), and it can grow up to 5 times the amount of food in the same space as a monoculture! And, apparently, the Indigenous people did this with "food forests." So, my question is: why aren't we using it if it's so great, and it's a tried and true method?

[IdaeChop]

Yay! Another educational video from MinuteEarth!

[theprimest]

If you're reading this you have the potential to create great things. Yes. You.

[kingfisherc]

Hey Minute earth I wanted to ask, why do you change your thumb nail so much after posting?