Watch: Mosquito Fire’s giant plume forms a swirling vortex

FOREST HILLS, Calif. (KRON) — Atmospheric scientists and wildfire experts are in awe as mosquito fires explode in size and form rolling pyrocumulus clouds that roll over the forests of Placer County. I was watching over it with a

Mosquito fires generated their own fire weather on Thursday. It’s a disturbing trend that scientists are seeing more and more as California’s wildfires rage with greater intensity and speed.

The extreme heat from a rapidly spreading fire creates upward air currents that carry water vapor and ash thousands of feet into the sky.

“There is radar/video evidence of a fire-generated tornado vortex (Thursday) night on the southeastern flank of Mosquito Fire. Unlike recent cases, this is clearly a cyclone,” said the University of Nevada, Reno. writes Neil LaReau, professor of atmospheric sciences at

The mosquito fire ignited in Placer County on Tuesday and has since spread to El Dorado County.

When wildfires create their own weather, like mosquito fires, the wind and other weather conditions are determined by the fire itself. The Mosquito Fire’s Pyrocumulus plume was visible all the way from Concord in East His Bay.

Firefighters and residents of the Forest Hill community in Placer County, California, watch plumes rise from a Mosquito fire on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

“What is a pyrocumulus cloud? It’s a cumulus cloud formed by rising air or smoke from explosive fires. Large pyrocumulus clouds can produce lightning and cause severe turbulence,” says the National Weather Service. Sacramento wrote on Twitter.

Cal Fire officials wrote in Friday morning’s update: Weather in the fire area will remain very hot and dry overnight and into tomorrow. Coupled with the very low moisture content of the fuel, the fire conditions are likely to replicate today’s behavior from night to tomorrow’s operational period. ”

An air tanker drops flame retardant into a burning mosquito fire near the Volcano Building on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, seen from the Forest Hill community in Placer County, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

In addition to blanketing northern California with smoke, the blaze threatens 3,600 homes in Placer and Eldorado counties. The fire is now 0 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

“It is very important that everyone who has been ordered to evacuate leave the area immediately, and we encourage those in evacuation warning zones to leave the area as well,” Cal Fire officials wrote. I’m here.

Earlier this week, flames leaped over the American River, burning buildings in the mountain hamlet of Volcanoville and approaching the towns of Forest Hill, home to about 1,500, and Georgetown, population 3,000.

David Hans was sleeping on the porch of his mother’s Forest Hill mobile home early Wednesday morning when he woke up to a bright red sky and was ordered to evacuate. “It was really scary because they’re saying, ‘Oh yeah, it’s coming,'” he said. “It was like a midnight sunset.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Firefighter Stephanie Ensley fights a burning mosquito fire near the Michigan Bluff community in unincorporated Placer County, California, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

https://www.kron4.com/wildfires/watch-mosquito-fires-huge-plume-forms-swirling-vortex/ Watch: Mosquito Fire’s giant plume forms a swirling vortex

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