#GrandCanyon, #Utah #wildfires creating "#FireClouds" that can form their own weather systems

August 1, 2025

"Two wildfires burning in the western United States — including one that has become a '#megafire' on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon — are so hot that they're spurring the formation of 'fire clouds' that can create their own #ErraticWeather systems.

"In #Arizona, the wind-whipped #DragonBravoFire that destroyed the #GrandCanyonLodge is 9% contained and has charred more than 164 square miles to become the largest fire now burning in the continental U.S. and one of the top 10 largest in recorded Arizona history. Getting around it would be roughly like driving from New York City to Washington, D.C.

"Another large fire in #MonroeUT, has burned 75 square miles since July 13 and is 11% contained, officials said Thursday. Evacuation orders were issued Wednesday for several towns in the fire's path, and scorched power poles prompted the shutoff of electricity in other nearby communities in south-central #Utah.

"Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared an emergency Thursday as #wildfires grew around the state and planned to visit Monroe on Friday.

"Towering convection clouds known as #pyrocumulus clouds have been spotted over Arizona's blaze for seven consecutive days, fueling the fire with dry, powerful winds, fire information officer Lisa Jennings said. They form when air over the fire becomes #superheated and rises in a large smoke column. The giant billowing clouds can be seen for hundreds of miles and can resemble an anvil.

"Their more treacherous big brother, a fire-fueled thunderstorm known as the #pyrocumulonimbus cloud, sent rapid winds shooting in all directions this week as a smoke column formed from the Utah fire then collapsed on itself, fire team information officer Jess Clark said.

" 'If they get high enough, they can also create #downdrafts, and that's something we really watch out for because that can quickly spread the fire and can be very dangerous for firefighters who are doing their work on the ground,' Jennings said.

"Multiple fire crews in Utah were forced to retreat Wednesday as the unpredictable climate created by the clouds threatened their safety, officials said. Fire crews in both Utah and Arizona had better control of the blazes, but containment has been slipping as the fires grow rapidly.

"The same type of cloud, which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has dubbed the 'fire-breathing dragon of clouds,' recently formed a fire tornado that tore through an eastern Utah neighborhood with wind speeds estimated at 122 miles per hour."

Read more:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grand-canyon-utah-wildfires-creating-fire-clouds-that-can-form-their-own-weather-systems/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#Firenado #ExtremeWeather #WildfireWeather #ClimateChange #GlobalBurning #USWx #ExtremeWx
#Utah #GrandCanyon

Now a #Megafire.

Grand Canyon fire biggest in 40-year trend of burning parkland

https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2025/07/31/grand-canyon-fire-national-parks-analysis/84535511007/

Time-lapse footage of the Grand Canyon's North Rim, released July 29 by the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 2, shows a pyrocumulus cloud, or fire cloud, rising into the sky.

To use or not to use the term "#megafire"? 🔥

After Linley et al. (2022) suggested a standardized definition (> 10,000 ha extent) to reduce ambiguity, a new perspective by Stoof et al. (2023) recommends not using the term at all in science:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.13791

I'm a fan of clear definitions and standardization of #terminology, but at the same time also wondering if we really need a special term for fires of a certain extent?

@wildfirescience @paleofire @ecology #wildfire #wildfires

How Megafires Are Remaking the World (NYT)
"This incendiary age, which some scientists have called the #Pyrocene could lead to “a wholesale conversion of what habitats are where on the planet,” Dr. Hodges said. “Right now, everybody is talking about fires and smoke and who dies, because of the immediacy of this fire year. But really, truly, the long-term consequences are much more severe and sustained.”

#Wildfire #Bushfire #Megafire #Extinction #Ecosystems
Gift article link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/15/science/climate-wildfires-ecosystems.html?unlocked_article_code=48TJQnE1e0_ELibPKbc1vb9CSKduqZSDQZZiBp9Uk8GAHZ_I5Rnmc10Pt6NVFG7jtTEq6f-VD9EL57ZJuSYz32q8kl_6UuTm2QYzbtnirKAjzzhZzyID5oRodYwaNJzQMQQcfSrU3nVlHWrlaIUKuIGWElzpLZvFgTMPC-PcEEG-kj0bGJcv8oWLW_TVgrRoHNTm0PfXCtBGNXWJA-WY08JeS5dX5daH3zx2Cn1mdepfinpubuSFxeTuwgDCpXzmHUaqNTwpgU827DMCcnE8pjOhwQXlQDmaEFTd9-Oq50HNWjGcw3kzQmYnEAr1OJrpwmVDZ_wcERoUF-CTHan6YE6Y179tyg&smid=url-share

This video taken in Dec 2019 shows how thick smoke was over the Hawkesbury in the 2019-20 #bushfire #megafire disaster - but it can't convey the smell, or how difficult it was to get a breath of clean air...

https://pixelfed.social/p/Coolmccool/606625098722106400

#australia #bushfire #climatemergency

"They Know How To Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?", Pro Publica (https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-megafires-why-wont-anybody-listen).

#Fire #California #USA #MegaFire #ClimateChange #ForestFire #FireFighter