Wildfires generate pyrocumulonimbus fire clouds

As France and Spain confront some of their most severe wildfires in recent history, experts have warned of pyrocumulonimbus, or fire-generated thunderstorms, forming above large blazes. Severe wildfires can generate their own unique weather systems, and pyrocumulonimbus are the most extreme form of these fire clouds. The immediate consequence is that these storm cells can exacerbate fire behavior and complicate suppression efforts, making already intense fires harder to control and raising risks for affected areas while creating new challenges for forecasting and emergency response.

Severe wildfires can produce pyrocumulonimbus that worsen fire behavior.