As the “Noble” fire grew and blew across ever-larger areas of southeastern rural Norman, the upper reaches its pyroconvective plume supported persistent growths of deep cloud towers. Wildfire plumes can generate one of the two most common kinds of flammagenitus clouds, the other being from eruptive volcanoes. At times, the entire fluid body of smoke and condensation looked like a miniature cumulonimbus, complete with backsheared smoke reminiscent of a more distant supercell shape. Alas, the only “rain” that resulted was in the form of ashes. Just two years prior, a tornado passed directly over the location where I was standing to shoot this. In a seven-year period, from this spot, one could witness two ice storms, two blizzards, two tornadoes, two big wildfires, and two earthquakes—plagues in pairs!
Norman OK (3 Aug 12) Looking ESE
35.1947, -97.3703Hot Plume Backsheared
As the “Noble” fire grew and blew across ever-larger areas of southeastern rural Norman, the upper reaches its pyroconvective plume supported persistent growths of deep cloud towers. Wildfire plumes can generate one of the two most common kinds of flammagenitus clouds, the other being from eruptive volcanoes. At times, the entire fluid body of smoke and condensation looked like a miniature cumulonimbus, complete with backsheared smoke reminiscent of a more distant supercell shape. Alas, the only “rain” that resulted was in the form of ashes. Just two years prior, a tornado passed directly over the location where I was standing to shoot this. In a seven-year period, from this spot, one could witness two ice storms, two blizzards, two tornadoes, two big wildfires, and two earthquakes—plagues in pairs!
Norman OK (3 Aug 12) Looking ESE
35.1947, -97.3703