DENVER — The lightning-sparked 107,00-acre Lee Fire in Rio Blanco County, the state’s largest wildfire, is creating its own weather system.
It’s called a firestorm.
Denver 7 Meteorologist Stacy Donaldson explains in the video below that a firestorm generates strong updrafts and downdrafts, leading to erratic fire behavior and the potential for lightning.
Stacey said that when the heat and smoke rise above a certain level, it begins to form clouds.
"It then punches up into the higher levels of the atmosphere, around 30,000 feet, and this is where we start to see pyrocumulus clouds. And this is where those clouds start to condense, and then they create lightning," she said.
The Lee Fire, which merged with the Grease Fire, is burning southwest of Meeker and was first reported on Aug. 3.
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The fire has forced several evacuations, including the Rifle Correctional Center.
No lives have been lost, and structural loss is unknown.
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