Fire Cloud from 38,000 Feet
Yesterday, a friend posted to my Facebook timeline some photos she snapped from a commercial flight as it cruised at 38,000 feet over Colorado's raging West Fork Complex of wildfires. This one is so dramatic I thought I'd share it with you.
It's a pyrocumulus, or "fire cloud." The intense heat of the inferno below has forced air to rise, leading to cooling and condensation of water vapor, and thereby forming a giant cloud that has risen to extraordinary heights. More about them in a minut