Fire-Tornado Pictures: Why They Form, How to Fight Them

Fueling the Flames

Photograph by Simon Gray, My Shot

A fire tornado rises from burning peat on a farm in Bangor, U.K., in 2008.

Combustible, carbon-rich gases released by burning vegetation on the ground are fuel for most fire tornadoes, Forthofer said. "The vegetation on the ground heats up enough to release gas, but some of the gas can't combust, because it doesn't have enough oxygen around it."

(See "Vast Peat Fire May Burn for Months in North Carolina"[June 2008].)

Giant Solar Tornado Caught in NASA

Researchers "instantly hooked" by ethereal dance of solar plasma.

Andrew Fazekas

for National Geographic News

Published March 29, 2012

A monster "tornado" big enough to swallow a hundredEarths has been spied on the sun, according to astronomers who analyzed recent images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120329-sun-solar-tornadoes-biggest-nasa-sdo-space-science/

The mystery of raining creatures

Non-aqueous Rain

Rare and yet real, cases exist of rains of animals instead of water. This has occurred occasionally throughout history, from the Biblical times up to recent history.

In English, we often say, “it’s raining cats and dogs” when its pouring down. There are records of its use dating back to the 17th century.Whether or not it arose from non-aqueous rain is still unknown. Its origin has been linked to thatched peasant homes were animals could crawl into the thatch and find shelter from the elements but would then fall out during heavy rain. 

http://patternizer.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/the-mystery-of-raining-creatures/

Mammatus Clouds

These odd-shaped clouds are often associated with a storm front, especially one involving a thunderstorm. It’s not completely understood how they form. [Image copyright Jorn Olsen, available for purchase here.]

http://listverse.com/2008/04/19/20-amazing-and-unusual-weather-phenomena/

Sprites, Jets and Elves, Oh My!

For years, pilots have reported seeing strange colored light flashes from the top of storm clouds, often many of them are sanctions. But now scientists have found evidence that this peculiar type of lightning really exist. Red sprites is a red light flash that rose as high as 50 miles above the earth, usually appear 2 or more simultaneously.

Blue jet, its cousin, is a bluish light cone, which were located in the lower atmosphere of the red fairy. Occurs at the time coincided with a red elf, pancake shaped red glowing happen because of the heat of the lightning.

http://www.mostinterestingfacts.com/nature/top-10-most-bizarre-weather-in-the-world.html

Sprites Jets Elves

Lhunze County, Tibet -- 2008

A group of boys play in the snow in Tibet, site of one of history's biggest snowstorms.

China Photos/Getty Images

Tibet is known for some of the world's tallest mountains, including Mount Everest. It gets bitterly cold there in the winter, but the climate is generally very arid. Some passes through the Himalayas remain passable throughout the year because of the low snowfall rates. For that reason, the snow storm that hit Lhunze County in October 2008 was a shock to its citizens.

Chinese officials reported an average snow depth of 59 inches (1.5 m). Some villages experienced continuous snow for 36 hours, dropping five or six feet (1.52 or 1.83 m) of snow on the ground [source: China Daily]. The amount of snow was so great that many buildings collapsed, resulting in seven deaths. Roads were closed for days as rescue crews fought to clear them and bring food to people trapped by the storm.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/10-biggest-snowstorms.htm#page=4

Remembering The Hail Storm Of June 2012

Today is the one year anniversary of the devastating hail storm that struck Dallas last year on this date June 13.

It was a typical hot, muggy June day. But very isolated storms starting developing around 5pm in North Texas. One storm that started in north Dallas began drifting southward. As it moved south it passed over Northpark Center blowing out a few skylights in the mall. Hail the size of softballs fell from this storm as well as storms in Grand Prairie, Irving, Parker (in Collin County), and in southern Fannin County.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/06/13/remembering-the-hail-storm-of-last-year/

The Storm of the Century March 11 – 15, 1993; 300 deaths

This storm is definitely one that will be remembered. Not only was it a blizzard, it created heavy rains, winds, and tornadoes. Some call it the White Hurricane, simply because of its characteristics. When meteorologists looked at satellite images of the storm, it was clear that it would be huge. At its strongest point, the weather system went as far north as Canada and as far south as Central America. Despite its wide range, the storm’s havoc remained focused on Cuba and the Eastern portion of the U.S. Some states received more than a couple feet of snow while others had to deal with about 6 inches, but Mount Le Conte, TN totaled in with the most, getting 60 inches of snow.

Read more: http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-worst-blizzards-u-s-history.php#ixzz2WVhnxyqP

Downburst or Tornado: What happened around Bladensburg?

Friday night (June 23, 2012 -10:04 PM) there were numerous warnings for severe thunderstorms, but the only major damage was from a storm that produced a powerful"downburst" that did some terrible damage in the Bladensburg area .

http://www.wjla.com/blogs/weather/2012/06/downburst-or-tornado-what-happened-last-evening-around-bladensburg--15942.html

El Niño southern oscillation

Noaa predicts wildly active hurricane season out of Atlantic and Caribbean

Scientists say three to six major hurricanes will hit US, some in areas far beyond those typically associated with extreme storms

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• Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
Follow @suzyji
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 May 2013 14.54 EDT
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A satellite image of Hurricane Sandy off the east coast of the US. Photograph: Nasa/Getty Images

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, releasing its annual forecast, said 2013 would be prolific in raising storms out of the Atlantic and Caribbean. Of the predicted hurricanes, Noaa predicted that three to six could be major hurricanes, rated category three and packing winds of 111mph or higher.

Climate change making extreme events worse in Australia

 Country faces more frequent and more severe weather events if it fails to make deep and swift cuts to carbon emissions

• Damian Carrington
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 April 2013 11.50 EDT

Bushfires at Grampians national park, Victoria, Australia. Extreme weather can lead to more severe and frequent disasters.

The report states that the number of record hot days in Australia has doubled since the 1960s, with the summer of 2012/2013 including the hottest summer, hottest month and hottest day on record. In a previous heatwave in southeastern Australia in 2009, Melbourne experienced three consecutive days at or above 43°C in late January, the report notes, leading to 980 heat-related deaths, three times the average mortality. Hot records are now being broken three times more often than cold records, the report found.

The Tunguska Explosion

In 1908, a mysterious event occurred in a remote area of Siberia that literally rocked the earth.  To this date, scientist continue to debate the cause of the incident.

On June 30, 1908 at approximately 7:15AM, a huge explosion occurred in a remote, mosquito infested swamp near the Tunguska River.  A local reindeer herding tribe, called the  Evenki, described seeing a bright, white light streak across the sky. 

Scientists still puzzle over some of the strange biological consequences of the event.  There has been an accelerated growth of biomass at the epicenter, a growth that continues to this day.  Biological mutations have been discovered too, not just at the point of contact, but all along the trajectory of the object over the Tunguska region.  Unusual abnormalities in the Evenki tribe have been recorded.  Genetic variations in certain species of ants and mutations in local plant life have yet to be explained.

 

Fire Tornado Seen Spinning Over Hungary

 

National Geographic News

Published March 4, 2011

A fire tornado whirled above a burning plastic-processing plant during a huge conflagration outside Budapest, Hungary, on March 2.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, and no casualties were reported, according to the Reuters news service.

Also known as fire whirls, fire devils, or even firenados, fire tornadoes form when high heat and turbulent winds together spur whirling eddies of air.