Fire Clouds



A fire cloud is a type of cloud usually formed by rising heat from wildfires or volcanic eruptions. So, what creates a fire cloud? Well, when something is burning, it creates hot air around it. As smoke and hot air from a source such as a wildfire rise, the water already present in the atmosphere cools and condenses, forming pyrocumulus clouds. (Pyrocumulus literally translates to fire + heap or pile). Dense with soot and ash, they can carry pollutants up to 10 miles high in the atmosphere.

Sometimes, if a fire is big enough and enough water vapor and updraft is available, pyrocumulus clouds can continue to build into thunderstorms. When they do so, the clouds are called pyrocumulonimbus clouds. Nimbus is Latin for 'dark cloud,' so you can think of the whole word as meaning 'pile of dark fire clouds.' Pyrocumulonimbi are particularly dangerous because they can produce lightning and strong winds, which can, in turn, start and spread fires below.




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