The recent bushfires in Australia have been terrifying. As we talk of firenadoes and megablazes, we're understanding just how dangerous and unpredictable fire behaviour can be.
Australia’s devastating bushfire season has made us more aware of the weather conditions involved in sparking, spreading and suppressing bushfires.
As the fires have grown in ferocity, we’ve seen an incredible phenomenon – the formation of ‘pyrocumulonimbus’ clouds and storms. We’re dealing with fires powerful enough to create their own weather systems.
It starts with large, intense smoke plumes. From there, a pyrocumulonimbus system can wreak havoc by throwing huge ‘downbursts’ of air onto the ground, carrying burning embers downwind that ignite new fires, or sparking new fires by lightning strike.
So what do we know about these systems and how can firies fight fires of this intensity in the future?
Many ingredients need to come together for a pyroCb event to develop, says Dr Kevin Tory, Senior Research Scientist from the Bureau of Meteorology and Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.
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