The McKinney fire has created a pyrocumulonimbus thundercloud reaching a height of almost 12 kilometers, which NASA has called a “dragon plunging from the clouds.”
Thousands people have fled a fast-spreading wildfire in the state of California, USA. The McKinney wildfire in northern California on Sunday became the state’s largest wildfire so far this year. On Monday, the fire had already spread to an area of 206 square kilometers.
The news agencies AFP and Reuters and the newspaper report on the matter, among others The New York Times (NOW).
McKinney, which has been raging in the Klamath forest area since Friday, has spread strongly with wind and thunderstorms and is now approaching the city of Yreka. On Monday morning, according to local authorities, the percentage of fire control was zero.
A United States Forest Service firefighter trimmed tree branches on Sunday.
Fire has created a pyrocumulonimbus thundercloud reaching a height of almost 12 kilometers in the area, which worsens the conditions even more, NYT says.
Pyrocumulonimbus is created when smoke and moisture released from the burning soil rise up into the atmosphere. When moisture condenses around the smoke particles, a high cumulus cloud is created. Like normal storm clouds, pyrocumulonimbus produce strong winds and lightning, but unlike thunderclouds in general, they produce only light rain.
In other words, a pyrocumulonimbus effectively combines fire and smoke with a raging thunderstorm. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nasa, has indeed called it a “fire-breathing dragon from the clouds”.
Read more: In California, a wildfire spread over a wide area in less than a day, evacuation order for several areas
News agency According to AFP, more than 2,000 people have been evacuated so far because of McKinney, and at least hundreds are preparing to flee. The fire has destroyed homes and critical infrastructure. So far, no injuries or deaths have been reported.
Authorities have also evacuated dozens of hikers from the famous Pacific Crest Trail, which runs along the west coast of the United States from the Mexican border all the way to the Canadian border.
Oak Fire wildfire extinguishing work at the end of July.
Heat and drought have plagued California for more than two decades. In recent years, the extreme conditions increased by the climate crisis have exposed the state to increasingly worse wildfires. The years 2020 and 2021 were the darkest in the measurement history based on the burned land area.
McKinney is already the second huge wildfire in California this summer. Around the middle of July, a wildfire known as the Oak fire started, causing thousands to flee and threatening the famous Yosemite National Park. According to Reuters, the fire was 64 percent under control on Sunday.
The wildfire season is expected to continue in California for several more months.
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