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Wildfires in California are raging so hard that they are affecting the weather.
This satellite image, taken on the afternoon of 9 September 2024, shows puffy white convective clouds began forming over the hills surrounding Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego.
Among them were three distinctive pyrocumulus clouds, their formation partially driven by surface heat from intense wildfires in the region.
These towering clouds, also referred to as pyrocumulus or flammagenitus by meteorologists, are commonly associated with wildfires. The heat from the fires generates powerful updrafts, lifting smoke high into the atmosphere. As the rising plume cools, water vapour condenses around smoke particles, forming cloud droplets and eventually visible clouds at the top of the plume.
Such a phenomenon was captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite, showing a pyrocumulus cloud developing over the Line Fire in Southern California. The satellite image, enhanced by shortwave infrared light, revealed active fire locations, with a faint line of pink fire retardant visible near Redlands.
Later that day, the pyrocumulus developed into a pyrocumulonimbus, a thunderstorm that brought rain, strong winds, lightning, and hail. A similar cloud from the same fire had caused over 3,700 lightning strikes two days earlier.
By 10 September, over 26,000 acres (105 square kilometres) had been scorched by the Line Fire, which continued to threaten more than 65,600 structures. Over 2,000 firefighters, including 15 helicopters and 232 engines, were battling the blaze as communities such as Running Springs and Seven Oaks faced evacuation orders amidst record-breaking heat.
Where: Los Angeles, California, United States
When: 12 Sep 2024
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Cover Images
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