Scientists are investigating whether a whirling vortex of smoke, known as the “Park Fire” in California, was a rare fire tornado or an example of extreme fire behavior becoming more common. The massive rotating column caught the attention of weather and fire scientists on social media. While the rotating pillar of smoke in the video is not the fire tornado itself, experts believe a fire tornado may have been inside the swirl. The Park Fire quickly became one of California’s largest wildfires, growing to over 348,000 acres. The fire behavior generated thunderstorm-like clouds called pyrocumulonimbus clouds as plumes built into the atmosphere.
Fire tornadoes, or fire-generated tornadic vortexes, are large vortexes with strong winds created when an intense wildfire’s rotating plume of smoke interacts with the heat beneath it. Scientists are unsure if fire tornadoes are occurring more often due to the increase in people capturing these events on camera. While fire whirls, smaller rotating tendrils of flames or smoke, are common during fires, fire tornadoes are rare but potentially increasing with intensifying fires.
Confirmation of a fire tornado would typically come through surveys of wind damage by the National Weather Service. So far, there have been no reports of wind damage at the Park Fire scene. Researchers have an unprecedented look at wildfires this summer with the proliferation of live cameras, providing valuable data for understanding and studying fire behavior. Scientists continue to monitor and study these extreme events to understand their frequency and impact on the environment.
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