Our friendly little lightning-ignited prairie fire stayed well away from man-made structures, and in doing so, performed a service by reducing overgrown, dead grass to ash for enriching the soil. It’s no coincidence: freshly burned areas grow greenest, especially out here and when getting enough rain (which isn’t a given). The flame front, at right, must have hit an especially volatile and dense patch of fuel to launch a high tongue, while still distorting the foregoing air with intense radiative heat.
2 N Aroya CO (8 Jun 24) Looking E
38.8892, -103.1268