This view of the “Noble” fire plume (most of which by then was in far east Norman) and its towering pyrocumulus formation (a subset of the flammagenitus cloud type), was from 10 miles away at the National Weather Center. As dozens of structures burned, hundreds of people evacuated, and many miles of rural township/range grid roads closed, including the main east-west artery through the area (state highway 9). Fire-fighters worked in some of the harshest conditions imaginable, with temperatures above 110 degrees F for several hours and fast flame propagation in the gusty winds. This required frequent repositioning, as well as rotation on and off the lines for rehydration and cooldown. It was but one of many destructive fires across the southern Plains that summer.
Norman OK (3 Aug 12) Looking E
35.1821, -97.4397Pyroconvective Plume
This view of the “Noble” fire plume (most of which by then was in far east Norman) and its towering pyrocumulus formation (a subset of the flammagenitus cloud type), was from 10 miles away at the National Weather Center. As dozens of structures burned, hundreds of people evacuated, and many miles of rural township/range grid roads closed, including the main east-west artery through the area (state highway 9). Fire-fighters worked in some of the harshest conditions imaginable, with temperatures above 110 degrees F for several hours and fast flame propagation in the gusty winds. This required frequent repositioning, as well as rotation on and off the lines for rehydration and cooldown. It was but one of many destructive fires across the southern Plains that summer.
Norman OK (3 Aug 12) Looking E
35.1821, -97.4397