Electric universe: Pyroclastic flow from Sinabung volcanic eruption last month produced string of 'tornados'

Cate Matthews
Huffington Post
Sun, 02 Feb 2014 10:03 UTC

Towering twisters of ash spawned by a pyroclastic flow from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia last month.

When Mount Sinabung erupted in North Sumatra, Indonesia early last month, the pyroclastic flows making their way down the mountain left red-hot deposits along its sides.

Incredibly, as the air above the deposits heated and quickly rose, a group of small "tornadoes" formed, twisting their way down the mountainside as well.

The video of the event, captured by Dr. Richard Roscoe of Photovolcanica, is astoundingly surreal. Check it out above for yourself.

Comment: As far as we're aware, this is the first time such a thing has been witnessed, in the modern era at least.

While 'warm air-cold air exchange' and high winds might have something to do with it, we suspect this is evidence that tornadoes (and other air spirals) are electrical phenomena in which the fundamental exchange is electrical discharge between the highly charged pyroclastic cloud (in this case) and a relatively negatively charged surface. That would also explain why we see lightning during volcanic eruptions, as happened at Sinabung in an earlier eruption:

Electric universe: Previously dormant Mt Sinabung volcano in Indonesia spews river of fire, pyroclastic cloud and lightning (VIDEO)

The important question is: why are volcanoes now demonstrating more electrical activity?