Raging Bushfires In Australia Have Now Created Their Own Weather, Meteorologists Reveal

Meteorologists in Australia have warned that the bushfires currently raging through the country have gotten so big that they have started generating their own weather. The experts said extreme weather has begun forming thunderstorms that could cause more bushfires.

Earlier this week, members of the Bureau of Meteorology in Victory reported that clouds that form above sources of heat have started appearing in areas affected by the bushfires. One of these regions is Gippsland in South Australia.

According to meteorologists, these clouds could cause thunderstorms. They warned that the lightning from these storms as well as the strong winds could start new fires.

“Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds have developed to altitudes over 16km in East #Gippsland this afternoon,” the bureau tweeted. “These fire-induced storms can spread fires through lightning, lofting of embers and generation of severe wind outflows.”

As explained by the bureau, a plume of smoke filled with hot air generated by the bushfires rises. As the plume continues to rise, low atmospheric pressure causes it to cool down and form clouds. The water droplets in these clouds then begin to condense, which then leads to rain. Sometimes, these downbursts can turn into thunderstorms that can generate lightning.

According to the bureau, the lightning and strong winds generated by these thunderstorms can cause the bushfire conditions in Australia to worsen.

“These clouds can produce intense updrafts that suck in so much air that strong winds develop, drawn in from all directions towards the plume,” the agency stated. “These can cause the fire to burn hotter and spread faster. The inflowing winds can cause nearby fires to change direction unexpectedly as they are drawn in to the parent fire.”

As of this writing, the bushfires have already burned down a total of 5.1 million hectares of land in the country. The bulk of the damage can be seen in New South Wales, with about 3.6 million hectares burned down.

According to CNN, over 900 houses within the state have already been destroyed by the bushfires. Due to the current condition of the bushfires, New South Wales’ local government has already declared a state of emergency.