You’ve probably seen coverage in the news of the wildfires that are raging across many of the western states. The fires are so large that they can create their own local wind and weather patterns tied to the rising of hot air in the middle of the fires. That can lead to the creation of what we call “pyrocumulus” clouds, or cumulus clouds caused by fire. Here is a good description of what they are from CNN. There have also been a number of videos of fire tornadoes, which are also caused by the rapidly rising and turbulent air.

How wildfires create towering pyrocumulus clouds