VIDEO: France's wildfires create rare thunderstorm cloud, spark new fires

A massive forest fire ravaging southern France has created a rare and dangerous weather phenomenon – a pyrocumulonimbus, or storm cloud, which in turn has triggered lightning strikes and sparked new fires.

Such fires feed on themselves because the fire no longer simply responds to weather conditions, but actively creates them itself. The fire, which began near Saumos on July 22, has now destroyed an area of ​​more than 420 square kilometers. Some 220,000 people have had to evacuate.

Fire meteorologist Theodore M. Giannaros explained that such clouds are formed by the extremely intense heat of a forest fire. They can create unpredictable wind patterns that amplify the spread of the fire and make extinguishing efforts even more difficult.

It is a rare phenomenon that has been mostly documented in North America and Australia. This is the first such case officially recorded in France.

Source: AP News