"Pyrocumulus Clouds" Are Dramatic, Beautiful And Products Of Disaster

Hat tip to the Capital Weather Gang and the National Weather Service office in Medford Oregon for giving us these incredible, wild photos of something called pyrocumulus clouds.

The photos were taken by the Oregon Air National Guard. 

As Capital Weather Gang notes, pyrocumulus clouds form the way most clouds do: Via an updraft.

In this case, heat generated by a large forest fire forces air to rise. The rising air, like it often does when it heads upward, causing what moisture there is in the air to condense into clouds.

And sometimes it doesn't take a huge amount of moisture to make clouds. Pyrocumulus clouds have more of a gray color than do regular cumulus clouds, the kind of puffy cloud you often see on a summer day, because pyrocumulus clouds are full of ash.

As a lot of people noted on the National Weather Service/Medford Facebook page, the incredibly awesome clouds are a testament to a disaster happening on the ground.

They're huge clouds in those photos, produced by a huge wildfire that has so far burned more than 36,000 acres.

The fire was started by lightning, which is another hazard of pyrocumulus clouds. They can grow into big thunderstorms, which produce lightning strikes that can set off new fires.

The fire causing this was about 65 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. Let's hope the weather cooperates and they can get this fully under control.