Fire Whirls Reported in Wildfire Burning in California and Nevada

Posted: August 2, 2023 9:39 am

Wildfire season is starting to heat up, both literally and figuratively. A cluster of fires burning in California and Nevada is producing what meteorologists refer to as “fire whirls” as the blazes continue to burn out of control. Here is the latest on this developing situation as well as an update on wildfire season in the U.S.

Update on York Fire

The fire burning in California and Nevada are creating erratic and dangerous flames, putting fire fighting crews at risk. Known as the York Fire, the inferno is now distinguished as the largest of the year thus far in California.

As of Tuesday morning, the fire had burned about 80,000 acres and is 23% contained. The event began on Friday in the New York Mountain Range located in the Mojave National Preserve. The flames had jumped over the state line into Nevada on Sunday thanks to increasing wind gusts.

The York Fire is one of dozens of blazes now burning in the U.S. as much of the country remains in the grips of a relentless heat wave. Officials in California warn that the York Fire is continuing to grow and is proving to be challenging to bring under control.

Temperatures have hit or exceeded 100 degrees for days in this part of California, adding to the difficulty of bringing the fire under control. The smoke coming from the flames has filtered into Nevada and southern Utah. This includes poor air quality conditions as far as Las Vegas.

Understanding the Danger of Fire Whirls

The Mojave National Preserve released photos of the fire whirls being created by the fire. These whirls are dangerous circulations of flames and smoke that come together and form a spinning column of fire under the right conditions.

The whirls take root when the heat coming from the flames rises and cold air moves in underneath. This clash creates a whirling vortex that can spin up debris into the air. Some experts refer to this phenomenon as a fire tornado. The whirls are especially dangerous because they can suddenly change direction and speed, making them difficult to predict.

Fires that reach a high enough temperature can create clouds that trigger rain and lightning strikes, known as pyrocumulonimbu. The pyrocumulonimbus clouds appear darker in color than normal clouds due to the smoke and ash circulating within them.

Fire whirls vary greatly in size and intensity. Some whirls on record have packed as big of a punch as a tornado. Most notably, the 2018 Carr Fire near Redding, California created a fire while that killed eight people as it spun around with wind speeds over 140 mph.

Latest on U.S. Wildfire Season

The nation is inching closer to the peak of wildfire season. Rising temperatures and a lack of consistent moisture in the West will only work to increase this danger. According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), there are now 64 active large fires burning in nine different states.

The NIFC said that 1.1 million acres have been scorched in the U.S. so far this year as of July 31. While this seems like a good chunk of acreage, it is still below the 5.7 million acres that had been burned by this date in 2022. The NIFC also confirmed that over 11,500 firefighters were currently on the frontlines working to contain the flames.

Fire in Washington State Crosses Border into Canada

Evacuations were issued over the weekend in Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia thanks to a large fire burning on the border. The Eagle Bluff Fire got started on Saturday in Okanogan County in northern Washington state. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres in Washington and is only 10% contained as of Tuesday morning.

The same blaze has ripped through over 3,500 acres on the Canadian side, prompting evacuation orders for nearly 200 residences in the town of Osoyoos. Thousands of more properties were put under evacuation alerts.

Another fire sparked up in Washington near Spokane on Monday afternoon. The West Hallett Fire forced the evacuation of at least 20 properties, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Meanwhile in neighboring Idaho, the Hayden Fire was burning near the Salmon-Challis National Forest about 18 miles west of Leadore. This fire has burned more than 18,000 acres and is only about 5% contained. This fire has been burning since July 19.

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