From dry lightning to decaying storms: Here’s how wildfires create their own weather

Satellite data shows fire-produced thunderstorms are much more common than anyone realized just a few years ago.

Wildfire blowups, fire whirls, towering thunderstorms: When fires get large and hot enough, they can actually create their own weather.

In these extreme fire situations, firefighters’ ordinary methods to directly control the fire don’t work, and wildfires burn out of control. Firefighters have seen many of these risks in the enormous Park Fire burning near Chico, California, in summer 2024.