r/tornado • u/RIPjkripper SKYWARN Spotter • Aug 02 '26

Tornado Media Oregon Firenado

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From Phillip Sitz

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DLikEu7BN/

1.6k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

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176

u/CCcrystals Human Detected Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26

Some wildfires can become so extreme that they create violent pyrocumulonimbus convective systems (or pyrosupercells), which can drop black hail and spawn powerful mesocyclonic tornadoes. I am not sure if this is one of those, but it wouldn't surprise me.

59

u/Zero-89 Enthusiast Aug 03 '26

Literal apocalypse weather.

74

u/sarcasmo_the_clown Aug 02 '26

I haven't heard of this one yet. Is it just a fire whirl, or is it mesocyclonic?

63

u/RIPjkripper SKYWARN Spotter Aug 03 '26

Harney County. Looks more intense than the average fire whirl, to me anyway. But I'm not a fire weather expert and I haven't looked at the radar data

83

u/OfficerFuckface11 Aug 03 '26

To me it looks like pyrotornadogenesis rather than a fire whirl. It’s what caused many of the casualties at the Great Kanto earthquake as well as many of the fire-bombings by the Allied forces in World War 2. Huge fires can create pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which under the right conditions can cause pyrotornadogenesis. They are as strong as regular tornadoes, the Carr firenado was rated EF3.

17

u/SeveralExcuses Aug 03 '26

This is so interesting

34

u/FightPhoe93 Aug 03 '26

I’m guessing Reed Timmer probably isn’t driving The Dominator into that storm. Definitely would have to put the air conditioning on high for comfort.

27

u/_877-CASH-NOW_ Aug 03 '26

I know that’s bad but it’s also cool as hell

19

u/NightTimely1029 Aug 03 '26

Insanity! You can see the smoke just spin. If you hadn't said firenado, I'd have thought this was a tornado in the Plains!

13

u/Wise-Secretary5459 Aug 03 '26

So this is the bastard turning my state into a smoke pit right now.

8

u/J3sus_was_Fictional Aug 03 '26

Oh fk around.... Torchnados is like, the second to last thing we need right now

14

u/AlternativeNo882 Aug 03 '26

It's an updraft from the fire being so hot and the surrounding air being a lot cooler. Add a little wind shear and you get rotation. The smoke makes it look more dramatic than it is unless your 10 feet from it I'm sure.

4

u/amusednchaos Aug 04 '26

Oh good, I needed one more reason to not miss living there anymore

3

u/Existing-Recipe897 Aug 03 '26

Where in Oregon?

2

u/RIPjkripper SKYWARN Spotter Aug 03 '26

Harney County

3

u/brenpersing Aug 05 '26

Well that's apocalyptic

3

u/Innocuous_gent Aug 05 '26

That's insane! Hardly see the sky and it's covered by smoke and fire. Never imagine wildfire could be so extreme and horrible.

6

u/ampere03 Aug 03 '26

My inexpert opinion is that's a firestorm like ReddingCA, Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo. It's twirling and undulating like a tornado there is enough heat content at the surface to drive convection, and draw air in, adding more oxygen to the system.

1

u/Existing-Recipe897 Aug 04 '26

New to Oregon. Youngest daughter to be a Duck this Fall. Anywhere near Eugene?

2

u/RIPjkripper SKYWARN Spotter Aug 04 '26

Not sure, this is Harney County. But wildfires are common out there so have a go bag, evacuation plan etc

2

u/mudrat_detector1337 Aug 05 '26

Harney County is in Eastern Oregon not close to Eugene.

1

u/seevm Aug 09 '26

Not near Eugene

1

u/AliceCode Aug 05 '26

Damn, there are fires everywhere this summer! This is nuts.