Posted on 09/11/2020 1:33:33 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A giant thunderstorm hovered above the Creek Fire on Saturday, shooting smoke plumes into the stratosphere as flames tore through the Sierra National Forest below — and an obscure meteorological term briefly burst into the popular lexicon: pyrocumulonimbus. biggest ever produced above U.S. soil.
The record-breaking plume gushed huge volumes of pollutants into the earth’s already warming atmosphere. Stunned passengers on a passing plane snapped photos showing the peculiar shape and immense size of the cloud.
It was just one of the many abnormal events that has kept all eyes trained on the skies in recent weeks, as the wildfire season’s early arrival has wrought one bizarre celestial event after another.
Like the incendiary mid-August lightning storms and the mix of fog and smoke that created eerie orange skies across the Bay Area on Wednesday, meteorologists say the Creek Fire pyro-cloud heralds a new era of unpredictable — and increasingly volatile — climate events.
The largest pyrocumulonimbus events ever recorded worldwide have all occurred in the past three years, a trend that indicates they could become a lot more common as wildfire seasons intensify.
That could create more hazardous conditions for firefighters on the ground, as the vacuum effect ensuing from pyrocumulonimbus kicks up erratic winds that can scatter embers. Some have been known to generate dry lightning or, in rare instances, tornado-like vortexes above wildfires, although that does not appear to have happened at the Creek Fire.
The Creek Fire pyrocumulonimbus formed one day after the fast-moving fire was sparked by unknown causes. The flames had engulfed 175,893 acres by Thursday, threatening more than 14,000 structures in Fresno and Madera counties. The fire remains 0% contained and full containment is not expected until October.
The massive cloud formation dissipated before the end of Labor Day weekend, but not before it generated an online following and caught the attention of a NASA satellite, which captured the cloud’s development in a series of images released Tuesday.
NASA scientists analyzed the high-altitude smoke plume using the satellite data and compared it to the historical record. The results indicated that it was “one of the largest, if not the largest, pyrocumulonimbus events seen in the United States,” said Colin Seftor, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Pyrocumulonimbus clouds are easily seen from space as they suck in smoke, becoming “one of the dirtiest clouds on earth, similar to volcanic eruptions,” said Peterson, who has studied the phenomenon extensively. “It acts like a giant chimney, taking smoke from the ground and injecting it to the altitude of a jet aircraft.”
Conditions were right for pyrocumulonimbus in recent weeks, Peterson said. He estimates that between five and 10 have formed over California wildfires this year alone, but said the size of the Creek Fire cloud stands out.
The cloud’s size and distinctive shape caught the attention of passengers on airplanes flying near the blaze Saturday. Thalia Dockery was on a flight from San Jose to Las Vegas when she spotted the pyrocumulonimbus in an otherwise clear sky. After one shocked moment, she began snapping photos and took to the internet to identify the cause of the oddly shaped protrusion.
“I had never seen anything like it,” Dockery said. “The shape of it reminded me of the huge tree of life at Disney World, because it looked as if it had roots.”
Kris Mattarochia, a National Weather Service meteorologist who covers the Central Sierra Nevada, noticed the cloud’s cauliflower-like head and jutting triangular forms that resembled the hull of a ship.
So what they are saying is my little carbon footprint is statistically, absurdly, insignificant.
“The already warming atmosphere”. Pure jackassery.
It looks like a volcanic explosion.
I am infinitely more afraid of the Globalist/Left/Dem Axis than I am of anything in nature.
Also, going thru the dating process again.
So now fire is a pollutant force?
Gimmeafreakinbreak!
There is a video connecting antifa to these fires, too, on youtube. Jussayin.
I am sure the “BURN IT DOWN” Antifa/BLMers were admiring their arsonistic creation.
Why should these enemy combatants worry?
The demon-rat pack of governors and the leftist media have been sympathizing with them and protecting them.
They can do anything they want and get away with it because the demon-rats cover for them.
“into the earth’s already warming atmosphere” is where I stopped reading.
Yeah, it starts warming every day around 9am.
“I am infinitely more afraid of the Globalist/Left/Dem Axis than I am of anything in nature.”
You don’t think this was actually caused by nature, do you?
This is exactly what the Islamists’ playbook calls for.
Better headline: “Fire-Breathing Dragon Awes Mouth-Breathing Idiots”
Ummmmm - I’d like to report the people at the beach for not wearing masks and social distancing...who do I see about that?
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