Large wildfire creates ‘fire tornado’ in California

Firefighters shared a dramatic video of a wildfire near Chico, California. As strong winds interacted with the smoke, it created a large, swirling vortex or “fire tornado.” The smoke plume reached at least 25,000 feet behaving in essence as a miniature thunderstorm. On rare occasions, exceptionally tall smoke plumes morph into thunderstorms of their own, becoming so-called pyrocumulonimbus clouds and spitting out their own lightning strikes. Sometimes those strikes start new fires.

Class discussion: Have you ever seen a wildfire, even from a distance? There have always been wildfires, but does it seem the blazes are becoming more frequent? How does heat affect the occurrence and spread of wildfires? The hottest day ever recorded by humans occurred last week, breaking two previous global records set in July. Will global warming increase the chances of dangerous firestorms like the one in California? What caused some of history’s deadliest firestorms?