Weird Texas Thunderstorm Sparked By Wildfire

A wildfire in Texas (you can see the smoke at the base) caused a giant
severe supercell thunderstorm in Texas Friday. Photo via Twitter
@twofortheroadtv

In the drought stricken Texas panhandle, a wildfire is raging east of Amarillo.

Sometimes, the heat generated by a wildfire creates a big cloud above the smoke plume, which often turns into a thunderstorm. These are called pyrocumulus clouds.

Pyrocumulus clouds often form above wildfires in the Rocky Mountains, California and other places. These usually make wildfires worse, since they create gusty winds, which spreads the fire.

Pyrocumulus clouds also sometimes bring lightning strikes, which can cause new fires. Thunderstorms created by wildfires are also called pyrocumulonimbus clouds

A pyrocumulus cloud formed above and east of the Texas fire Friday. But this one, on the flat southern Plains, was a doozy. In a rare move, it turned into a severe supercell thunderstorm, the type of wild storm common in the middle of the country this time of year, the kind that can create large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.

Another view of the pyrocumulonimbus thunderstorm created by the wildfire
in Texas. One little column of smoke you see at the base of the storm
might have been a new fire caused by lightning from the storm
Photo via Twitter, Mike Umscheid, @mikeumsc

This Texas pyrocumulus supercell thunderstorm didn't produce a tornado, though some photos suggested the storm was rotating.

The storm was definitely severe. One inch hail was reported in one town, and other areas reported gusty winds as well. It appeared from some photos the supercell pyrocumulus thunderstorm was rotating.

The storm also produced a lot of lightning, which helped set off new fires.

The fire that caused this storm is huge, burning a reported 70 square miles as of late Friday.

That a wildfire can cause a supercell thunderstorm is definitely one for the record books, and meteorologists will be studying this one for a long time.