For those of you who have a view of the Tomahawk (Camp Pendleton) - TopicsExpress



          

For those of you who have a view of the Tomahawk (Camp Pendleton) and Highway (Bonsall) fires, this afternoon we are seeing a phenomenon that is very common after wildfires - ash whirls/tornadoes. Anyone who has ever driven across the desert has seen the dust devils that spring up when the sun beats down on the desert floor. A mini-tornado springs up that carries sand and dust into the air. After a wildland fire, the ground is already hot and it is covered with black ash which amplifies the heating effect. The result is large twisting columns of ash - an ash devil instead of a dust devil. It looks like a smoke column, but it is actually an ash tornado. We are seeing those over both fires this afternoon. Note that there are lots of fire engines and crews out there working on both fires and we will be closely watching to make sure that there are no further problems.
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 20:13:35 +0000

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