Wildfire weather: How large blazes can cause firenadoes, thunderstorms

Because severe wildfires generate large amounts of energy in the form of heat, they can create their own weather. When wildfires are intense, air tends to move much more violently and produce strong ... Read More

Washington wildfire creates towering "pyrocumulus" clouds over the Inland Northwest

A fast-growing fire cast a long shadow across the Inland Northwest. Framed by the setting sun, a 4 News Now viewer in Colbert captured the gigantic plume ... Read More

When Fire Meets Twister: The Wild World of Firenadoes

What’s a firenado?It’s exactly what it sounds like—a swirling column of fire! When intense heat from a wildfire mixes with just the right wind conditions, it creates a spinning vortex of flames, ... Read More

Unseasonable heat causing severe conditions in SoCal, new wildfires starting to burn

California’s weather conditions are intensifying after a week of extreme temperatures, prompting fire evacuations in Napa County and sparking a handful of blazes that began burning Saturday morning in ... Read More

What the Bloom After L.A.’s Wildfires Reveals About Our Ecological Future

Many of Southern California’s plants and animals evolved with fire as part of their life cycles. Can they weather the worsening fires to come? Humboldt’s lily (Lilium humboldtii).Credit...Matt Smith ... Read More