Articles for tag: Climate Change, Disaster Science, Fire Tornadoes, Firestorms, Wildfire Research

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The Science of Fire Tornadoes – And Why They’re Appearing More Often in the West

Suhail Ahmed

The Carr Fire in northern California was already devastating enough when something unthinkable happened. On July 26, 2018, winds within a fire tornado reached 143 miles per hour, equivalent to an EF3 tornado, carving a path of destruction unlike anything firefighters had witnessed before. This wasn’t just wildfire anymore – nature had weaponized flame itself ...

What Causes Fire Tornadoes - Nature's Rarest Storms

What Causes Fire Tornadoes – Nature’s Rarest Storms

Gargi Chakravorty

Picture this: You’re watching the evening news when footage appears of what looks like a tornado, but it’s glowing red and orange with flames spiraling hundreds of feet into the sky. It seems impossible, something from a disaster movie. Yet true fire tornadoes are rare and are always associated with extreme fire behavior. These spinning ...