The fires are devastating many regions of Canadian British Columbia and the western United States.
Hot air rising into the atmosphere is generating ‘pyroCb’ clouds
Igneous or fire storms scatter embers and generate lightning, making fires worse
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The devastating wildfires of recent days in Canada they are particularly affected by the city of Lytton, which has been placed in the center of all eyes. As a result of the flames, which spread and fan easily in a scenario of extreme heat, clouds are brewing ‘pyrocumulonimbus’, that generate authentic firestorms with rays included that little help the situation. How are they formed?
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Canadian British Columbia lights up these days with some very particular lightning bolts. The clouds that cover the skies have formed as a result of the fires, and in turn may contribute to making them worse in a tragic vicious cycle as they spit lightning and scatter embers.
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To put it in context: the northwestern United States and large parts of Canada have experienced the worst heat wave in memory since last weekend. Temperatures have been extremely high, with a maximum recorded in Lytton of 49.6 ° C on Tuesday. This, as expected, has also unleashed an outbreak of fires as has been seen many times … An outbreak that could get worse in the coming days.
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Hundreds of deaths Sudden events are attributed to heat especially in British Columbia, and many of the residents of this Canadian village have lost everything to the flames. Between Tuesday and Wednesday the smoke engulfed everything in Lytton and all its inhabitants evacuated, and now the neighbors fear returning to a home reduced to ashes. Above all, in view of the anticipation that igneous or ‘fire’ storms will further enliven the active outbreaks.
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What are pyrocumulonimbus clouds that generate igneous storms?
When hot air rises and rises from the source of a fire (or a volcanic eruption), all the way to the atmosphere, it can carry water vapor that ‘makes’ those ‘pyrocumulonimbus’ clouds, convective type, which experts abbreviate “pyroCb”.
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“Precipitation and lightning can also occur with these types of clouds, which creates the risk of fire spreading due to increased wind due to the downdraft of precipitation or creating new fires due to lightning. These are all things that fire managers need to keep in mind as they continue to try to fight the fire, ”explains NASA.
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That is to say, from fire the clouds that give rise to storms are born, and from those storms new fires can be born. It is the whiting that bites its tail.
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Nor do these ‘pyroCb’ help extinguish active fires. Many times, as part of these igneous storms, intense columns of dry wind that scatter the embers, as “a fire-breathing dragon”, described by NASA, creating tornados fiery as one of the most spectacular we’ve ever seen, sparked by the Loyalton Fire in Northern California in August 2020, which devastated more than 20,000 hectares of land.
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The one in the following image occurred on August 7, 2002, west of Borrego Springs, California.
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