Extreme wildfires can create their own dangerous weather, including fire tornadoes – here's how

Persistent heat waves and dry lightning are part of the problem. For firefighters, the erratic behavior gets dangerous quickly.

Leila Carvalho, Professor of Meteorology and Climatology, University of California, Santa Barbara • conversation
Aug. 25, 2020 • ~6 min
storms wildfire heat-wave drought natural-disasters weather tornado lightning fire-risk

Western wildfires are spinning off tornadoes – here’s how fires create their own freakish weather

Persistent heat waves and dry lightning are part of the problem. For firefighters, the erratic behavior gets dangerous quickly.

Leila Carvalho, Professor of Meteorology and Climatology, University of California, Santa Barbara • conversation
Aug. 25, 2020 • ~6 min
storms wildfire heat-wave drought natural-disasters weather tornado lightning fire-risk

What is a derecho? An atmospheric scientist explains these rare but dangerous storm systems

Hurricane and tornado winds spin in circles, but there's another, equally dangerous storm type where winds barrel straight ahead. They're called derechos, and are most common in summer.

Russ Schumacher, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science and Colorado State Climatologist, Colorado State University • conversation
June 15, 2020 • ~9 min

 hurricane  storms  meteorology  natural-disasters  weather-forecasting  weather  tornado  thunderstorm  great-plains

​Tornadoes that strike at night are more deadly and require more effective warning systems

In the Southeast US, tornadoes strike at night more often than in other regions. This poses special challenges for getting early warnings to the public.

Alisa Hass, Assistant Professor of Geoscience, Middle Tennessee State University • conversation
March 5, 2020 • ~8 min

 social-media  storms  meteorology  natural-disasters  weather-forecasting  early-warning-systems  tornado  tennessee  disaster-preparedness

/

1