Fire tornadoes being generated from wildfires

Wildfires continue to rage across the Los Angeles region. The largest blaze, the Palisades Fire, has burned approximately 24,000 acres. The Eaton Fire has consumed over 14,000 acres. As of the weekend, the Palisades Fire was over 30% contained while the Eaton Fire was nearly 50% contained.

In addition to the massive blazes, firefighters in California could also encounter another very dangerous phenomenon, which is a fire tornado. On Jan. 10, one of those terrifying fire tornadoes was captured on video in Los Angeles.

The phenomena that resulted from these wildfires in California are called fire whirls, fire devils, or better known as “fire tornadoes” or “firenadoes.” These events are rare and not usually classified as tornadoes as the vortex does not extend from the surface to the cloud base.

Fire tornadoes are caused when intense heat from fires creates an updraft. They are more related to “whirlwinds” than the big tornadoes that are typically seen east of the Rockies. Temperatures within the fire whirl, or fire tornado, can be as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. They can also be over 150 feet tall and usually last for only a few minutes. However, it’s estimated that some can persist for more than 20 minutes. The surrounding air rushes in to replace the rising air and leads to a spinning column of air. Wind speeds with a fire tornado are estimated to be as high as 120 miles per hour.

These fire storms will generate their own “fire” clouds called pyrocumulus clouds. If the air is humid enough, they can literally create their own rainfall. However, they mostly generate lightning, which can lead to more wildfires.

Most of the fire tornadoes are triggered by wildfires. However, they have been spotted around volcanic eruptions.

Back in 2020, there was a video showing a fire tornado generated by the Loyalton Fire in California and Nevada. One of the worst fire tornadoes in history, according to howstuffworks.com, was the Great Kanto Earthquake south of Tokyo, Japan, on Sept. 1, 1923. A strong earthquake resulted in a tsunami. Then, fires broke out resulting in a massive fire tornado locals called a “dragon twist.” Nearly 45,000 people were killed in the event.

In July 2018, one of the strongest fire tornados in U.S. history was spotted just outside Redding, California. The massive fire tornado was generated from the Carr Fire, which was in the top 10 as the most destructive blazes in California’s history.

A fire tornado devastated Williamsonville, Wis., back in 1871. This was known as the Peshtigo Fire, and the Tornado Memorial County Park now occupies the area where Williamsonville once stood.

One of the continents that is forced to deal with wildfires is Australia. Back in 2003, there was a fire tornado that was generated from a major blaze in Canberra. The fire whirl had wind speeds of over 160 miles per hour and was classified as an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

A similar phenomenon to fire tornadoes, but not nearly as intense, are dust devils. These can be seen in open areas, particularly in places like eastern Washington and other desert regions. They are often very short in duration but can cause damage as winds average about 45 miles per hour.

In terms of our local weather, the question that we’re hearing is, “Where’s the snow?” According to Cliff’s records, the first half of the winter season has been the most snowless in Coeur d’Alene since 1895. Our region has been receiving moisture, but as I’ve been saying in previous articles, it’s been too warm for snow. However, the mountain locations have been seeing snow, which is good news for skiers and spring runoffs.

Although the overall weather pattern has been milder than average across the Inland Northwest over the past month, conditions this week will be very cold due to a massive Arctic air mass that will be moving over the area. There is a chance of snow in our region toward the end of the week.

This frigid air mass will cover much of the country. Lows early in the week were forecast to be down to -25 degrees across the north-central U.S. near the Canadian border. In the Great Plains, lows will be dropping into the 20s all the way down into Texas with freezing temperatures likely into northern Mexico.

Cliff and I believe that February will have near-normal snowfall, but it is a possibility that conditions will be snowier than average in North Idaho. Some of the long-range computer models are beginning to indicate this new weather pattern for the region next month. However, if the colder air stays mostly to our east, then much of the moisture that falls in North Idaho will be in the form of rain in the lower elevations with additional snow in the higher mountains. Stay tuned.

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Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com.