Heard on the scanner the fire actually turned west for a time. Fire behavior specialists warned of column collapse as well
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Right on time with the afternoon buildups that are starting to pop up and it’s heading to the west.
https://rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu/?sat=goes-17&sec=conus&x=7809.00048828125&y=3574.000244140625&z=4&angle=0&im=18&ts=1&st=0&et=0&speed=130&motion=loop&maps[borders]=white&lat=0&p[0]=cira_natural_fire_color&p[1]=cira_glm_l2_group_energy&opacity[0]=1&opacity[1]=1&pause=0&slider=-1&hide_controls=1&mouse_draw=0&follow_feature=0&follow_hide=0&s=rammb-slider&draw_color=FFD700&draw_width=6
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Mandatory Evacuation of the northern Red Rock and Rancho Haven Areas was issued at 1615. Red Rock road runs from Stead (northern edge of Reno) north and east then loops back into US 395 at the north end of Long Valley just south of Doyle. It’s a good guess that the fire has either crossed 395 or will do very soon. The way I read the column from the vantage point of Bordentown it may be climbing the mountains just east of 395.
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There have been reports of downstrikes occurring out of the Sugar Fire column. The top of the column has topped out at about 40,000 ft. Must be some violent fire behavior and up drafts down at ground level.
From NWS Reno
Emergency management reported lightning strikes along the east side of the Beckwourth Complex. Hot, dry, & unstable conditions have allowed these wildfires to become plume dominated generating pyrocumulonimbus. If you are in the vicinity please heed orders from officials.
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Thunderstorms rolling in from the south, right now around Carson City, with downstrikes witnessed and multiple fires reported. They will have at least some effect on the fire as they continue north.
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Very impressive.
Comm Techs from the incident were setting up a NIFC repeater and expanding their network out ahead of the fire.
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Those are pileus clouds. A common name is scarf clouds. They form when the column is rising fast and pulling “relatively moist air” in and up parallel to the column. The water in that rising air is condensing showing the flow lines of that air around the plume.
Make sense?
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Thank you , I learned something today , I’ve never seen that type of cloud , very good explanation!!
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Pileus schmaleus, here is the Dr Suess explanation for the rest of us:
Its a cloud, it is tall,
It gets tall and it will fall.
The wind will blow,
The smoke will flow,
The fire burns, its really hot,
Can I go home, probably not.
I’ll be here for 40 days,
But all the Bill’s …it surely pays!
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Is that similar to mesocyclone associated with super cells? I’ve seen several lately on the Texas/Oklahoma storm chasers stuff.
Huge heat signature. Also seeing a new signature in far NE CA
Pileus clouds are caused by inversion layers or the tropopause stopping vertical or horizontal growth of a cloud or in this case column.
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Nicely done sir
Don’t want to hijack the thread… but the idea of “Column Collapse” is often cited.
I am not sure it is all that common, and I think it needs a very specific set of circumstances to occur…
If anywhere could produce it, this area certainly could. East side, steep terrain, and downsloping winds which often create Mountain Waves.
I am not sure that the standard PC can just collapse. I don’t think the physics support it.
I would suggest that what most people associate with column collapse, is just the downsdrafts being generated within the cloud formation.
For the column to collapse, it would need to be suddenly moved off its heat source and shear off. The area downstream of a steep escarpment would be that place, or where strong winds were to suddenly surface and push a column off the seat of the fire.
To me, the physics behind the column growth( latent heat) would not by themselves support a column of smoke to just begin falling.
Thoughts?
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I agree. It’s not that common but whenever a pyrocu develops over the fire it has the potential to collapse so it’s good precautions. It really depends on the atmospheric conditions the column is tapping into. In this case the flow out of the SW is quite a lot so if anything the pyrocu will just shear over. Also with a ‘collapse’ really what’s happening is a downburst out of the column, whether it makes it to the ground or not. So there has to be a precipitation core with the pyrocumulus that cools the atmosphere below it and creating that huge wind potential. It’s totally different from the intense heat of the fire dragging in cooler air from the surroundings.
So the pyrocumulus cloud itself can create shear and efficient upward motion for more oxygen intake, but the ‘collapse’ element truly only occurs when a thunderstorm develops over the fire and the precipitation core modifies the atmosphere
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Time lapse on the Fort Sage cam shows an intense wind shift beginning around 19:30 that significantly influences that side of the fire.
http://beta.alertwildfire.org/region/shastamodoc/?camera=Axis-FortSage
Looks like some rotation happening in the upper right of the shot that seems to play into it.
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