International Space Station Photo Shows Pyrocumulus Clouds Created by West Fork Complex Fire
Posted on June 26, 2013
This image from the International Space Station provides a view of the West Fork Complex fire in Colorado from space. The was taken aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on June 19, 2013. It shows a huge plume from the West Fork Complex, which is a combination of three fires: the West Fork fire, the Windy Pass fire, and the Papoose fire. The fires, which have charred over 80,000 acres, are burning in a rugged terrain with large amounts of beetle-killed spruce forests.
The West Fork Complex fire is so hot that it spawned pyrocumulus clouds. NASA's Earth Observatory says pyrocumulus clouds are similar to cumulus clouds, but the heat that forces the air to rise comes from fire instead of sun-warmed ground.
These fires are still growing according to ABC 7 News in Denver.
You can see a larger version of the image here.
