The Station Fire has raged through California for almost three weeks now, consuming over 160,557 acres and being helped along by record heat waves with temperatures in the triple digits.
The evidence of the wildfire isn't limited to the charred remnants of dry grass, shrubs and trees on the ground, but also can be found high in the sky.
An interesting atmospheric phenomenon that many wildfires such as the Station Fire can cause is the pyrocumulous cloud. This immense type of cloud ranges in height from 2,000 to 30,000 feet and is formed when air is heated intensely and close to the surface. The air then rises and, when combined with moisture, forms immense clouds such as the one shown here over the skyline of Los Angeles. This pyrocumulous cloud was photographed on August 31 after the fire had been raging for five days, and reaches almost 20,000 feet high.
Pyrocumulous clouds are usually grayish or brown in color due to the remnants of smoke and ash in the air. Nuclear explosions and volcanic eruptions can also form pyrocumulous clouds. The clouds can cause severe turbulence in the air, creating winds that spread the flames further.
While these clouds can provide much-needed rainstorms from the air's moisture condensing inside the cloud, larger fires can cause the clouds to become cumulonimbus clouds. These cumulonimbus clouds bring thunderstorms with lighting, which in turn can start even more wildfires.
The Web site "Watts Up With That" features a time-lapse of Los Angeles' pyrocumulous cloud, as well as satellite images showing the Station Fire.
Pyrocumulous clouds have also been seen over locations such as Yellowstone National Park during wildfires.
At the time this blog was posted, the Station Fire was 91% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and had caused almost $94 million in damages. It is the state's 10th largest wildfire since 1933. The Los Angeles Times has a series of pictures chronicling the Station Fire.
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Brittany Stoner
Fox Weather Correspondent
Penn State University, Print Journalism and Spanish
