Wildfires

Temperature extremes: Severe fire danger for Australia as November high temperatures smash records

Swati Pandey
Reuters
Sun, 29 Nov 2020 15:20 UTC

The forecast heat map for the first day of summer with a renewed heatwave across inland eastern Australia

Parts of Australia, including Sydney, sweltered through the hottest November night on record with temperatures likely to stay high on Sunday, prompting authorities to issue a total fire ban.

Sydney CBD surpassed 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) on Saturday while swathes of western New South Wales, South Australia and northern Victoria baked through even higher temperatures nearing 45 degrees.

Temperatures are expected to cross 40 degrees for a second straight day on Sunday while the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted a five or six-day heatwave for parts of northern New South Wales and southeast Queensland.

Wildfires sweep through 10 northern Algerian provinces - 2 people killed

CGTN
Mon, 09 Nov 2020 12:31 UTC

Several wildfires broke out in 10 provinces in Algeria, and several city officials are reporting that this has been the worst year for wildfires in almost two decades.

The wildfires near the coastal city of Tipaza, west of the Algerian capital, have reportedly killed two people who sought shelter in a chicken coop and forced the evacuation of nearby residents.

Australia's wildfires created a 'record-breaking' smoke plume in the upper atmosphere

Alexandru Micu
ZME Science
Fri, 30 Oct 2020 07:03 UTC

Australia's bushfires set a record for the largest smoke cloud generated by a wildfire, a new paper reports. The plume was at least three times larger than any previously recorded one.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan's (USask) Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies say that last winter's Australian wildfires created a smoke cloud that pushed all the way to the stratosphere, some 35 kilometers above the surface, and reached incredible sizes. At its largest, it measured 1,000 kilometers across. The cloud remained intact for three months and traveled over 66,000 kilometers.

King smoke

"When I saw the satellite measurement of the smoke plume at 35 kilometres, it was jaw dropping. I never would have expected that," said Adam Bourassa, professor of physics and engineering physics, who led the USask group which played a key role in analyzing NASA satellite data.

Comment: The smoke these wildfires produce, together with particulates from meteor 'smoke' and volcanic eruptions, all jointly contribute to the increased dust-load in the atmosphere. This changes its electric charge rebalancing mechanisms, producing more intense storms and precipitation in the form of record rainfall, hail, lightning strikes, atmospheric 'anomalies' etc.

See also:

Wind-fuelled wildfire in Southern California leads to evacuation order for 100,000

Guardian News
YouTube
Mon, 26 Oct 2020 19:34 UTC

Weather conditions are hampering efforts to bring the fires under control

A fast-burning wildfire has triggered evacuation orders for 60,000 Southern California residents, as hundreds of thousands elsewhere across the state endured a second straight day of power shutoffs due to heightened fire risks from high winds. The Silverado fire sparked early in Orange county, quickly jumping a highway and exploding to 4,000 acres. The fire had doubled in size within two hours, with strong wind gusts pushing flames along brushy ridges in Silverado canyon toward thousands of homes. The latest threats came amid California's worst wildfire season on record in terms of landscape burned, with more than 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) scorched since the start of the year, along with thousands of homes destroyed and 31 lives lost.

Comment: Four million acres burned in California wildfires

East Troublesome wildfire in Colorado explodes to 170,000 acres: 'Really unheard of'

Anica Padilla
Denver.cbslocal.com
Thu, 22 Oct 2020 17:15 UTC

East Troublesome fire

The East Troublesome Fire grew almost another 50,000 acres on Thursday, after growing about 100,000 acres Wednesday night. As of Thursday evening, the fire was estimated at 170,000 acres — making it the second largest fire in Colorado history.

"We prepare for the worst. This is the worst of the worst of the worst," Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin said.

There are concerns the fire could merge with the Cameron Peak Fire, which has burned over 200,000 acres.

Massive Colorado wildfires force thousands to evacuate

NBC News
Mon, 19 Oct 2020 19:32 UTC

In Boulder County, the CalWood fire exploded to nearly 9,000 acres leaving whole neighborhoods in ruin and forcing nearly 3,000 people to flee their homes. In Northern Colorado firefighters are scrambling to contain the Cameron Peak fire—the largest wildfire in state history.

Comment: Cameron Peak Fire is now the largest wildfire in Colorado history

Cameron Peak Fire is now the largest wildfire in Colorado history

Artemis Moshtaghian and Christina Maxouris
CNN
Thu, 15 Oct 2020 12:51 UTC

© CNN
Airn Hartwig loads a chicken into a cardboard box as she evacuates due to the threat from the Cameron Peak Fire in Masonville, Colorado, on Wednesday.

The Cameron Peak Fire, burning just west of Fort Collins, is now the largest wildfire in Colorado history, Gov. Jared Polis said in a tweet Wednesday night.

The blaze has burned through more than 158,000 acres and is 56% contained, officials said. It was ignited on August 13 and has since been fueled by high winds and dangerous terrain that's worked against firefighters' efforts to battle the flames and increase containment.

It has now surpassed the Pine Gulch Fire, which burned about 139,007 acres earlier this year and the Hayman Fire, which burned through more than 138,000 acres in 2002, according to the US Department of Agriculture.The Cameron Peak Fire also prompted several evacuation orders Wednesday. In a statement posted on Facebook, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday announced there was a mandatory evacuation order for Lory State Park.

Comment: Think 2020's disasters are wild? Worse is yet to come say experts

Two dead as dozens of forest fires burn in Syria and Lebanon

France24
Sat, 10 Oct 2020 19:01 UTC

Forest fires in Syria and neighbouring Lebanon have killed two people and burned swathes of land since Thursday, state media and officials said.

Syrian state television on Saturday morning broadcast scenes from the affected areas, where firefighters were working to extinguish the blazes.

It said hundreds of hectares had burned in the countryside of Syria's coastal Latakia and Tartus provinces, and in the central Homs province.

The health ministry said two people died in Latakia province on Friday as a result of the fires, and that 70 people in the area were taken to hospital suffering breathing difficulties.

Ice and fire in Argentina - 2 feet of late snowfall in Patagonia after storm

Robert W. Felix
Ice Age Now
Sat, 03 Oct 2020 19:07 UTC

Two feet of snow and far below freezing in some areas, temperatures up to 43°C in others.

Meteorología de la República Argentina

PATAGONIA - Snowflakes 50 to 60 cm (2 ft) of snow in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. With temperatures below zero, it differs from the North Argentina, registering thermal contrasts of + 40°C.

Four million acres burned in California wildfires

Olga R. Rodriguez
Fire Engineering
Fri, 02 Oct 2020 18:26 UTC

A firefighter battles the Glass Fire burning in a Calistoga, Calif., vineyard Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020.

California is poised to hit a fearsome milestone: 4 million acres burned this year by wildfires that have killed 30 people and incinerated hundreds of homes in what is already the worst fire season on record.

Flames have scorched an area larger than Connecticut and fire crews at a blaze in the northern wine country were on high alert as forecasters warned of red flag conditions of extreme fire danger into Saturday morning.

Winds up to 30 mph (48 kph) were forecast to push through the hills in Napa and Sonoma counties as the Glass Fire, exploded in size earlier in the week, continued to threaten more than 28,000 homes and other buildings.

"It's a time of nervousness," said Paul Gullixon, a spokesman for Sonoma County.

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Wildfires

Temperature extremes: Severe fire danger for Australia as November high temperatures smash records

Wildfires sweep through 10 northern Algerian provinces - 2 people killed

Australia's wildfires created a 'record-breaking' smoke plume in the upper atmosphere

Wind-fuelled wildfire in Southern California leads to evacuation order for 100,000

East Troublesome wildfire in Colorado explodes to 170,000 acres: 'Really unheard of'

Massive Colorado wildfires force thousands to evacuate

Cameron Peak Fire is now the largest wildfire in Colorado history

Two dead as dozens of forest fires burn in Syria and Lebanon

Ice and fire in Argentina - 2 feet of late snowfall in Patagonia after storm

Four million acres burned in California wildfires

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