VIDEO: Heat from Wildfires in Arizona and Utah Creating Massive ‘Fire Clouds’

The heat from wildfires burning in Arizona and Utah are creating intense “fire clouds.”

One of the fires is on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and as of Thursday was nine percent contained after burning 164 square miles, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

It is the “largest fire now burning in the continental U.S. and one of the top 10 largest in recorded Arizona history,” the outlet said.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) said officials were coordinating “with federal partners to support firefighters and protect impacted communities. Stay alert and follow official updates and evacuation orders.”

Meanwhile, a fire in Monroe, Utah, has burned 75 square miles and officials said Thursday it is 11 percent contained.

“Evacuation orders were issued Wednesday for several towns in the fire’s path, and scorched power poles caused electricity to be shut off in other nearby communities in south-central Utah,” the AP article continued.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) announced Thursday that he declared a state of emergency “to unlock every available resource to protect lives, homes, livestock, and drinking water.”

“Nearly 114,000 acres have burned so far this year. Our firefighters are doing heroic work under extreme conditions including shifting winds and record-low snowpack. Please follow evacuation orders and do your part to prevent human-caused fires,” he said:

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service told Arizona’s Family that fires of this size create their own weather systems:

In 2023, the Weather Channel detailed “fire clouds” and how they are formed:

A “fire cloud” is a type of cloud usually formed by rising heat from wildfires or volcanic eruptions. So, what creates a fire cloud? Well, when something is burning, it creates hot air around it. As smoke and hot air from a source such as a wildfire rise, the water already present in the atmosphere cools and condenses, forming pyrocumulus clouds. (Pyrocumulus literally translates to fire + heap or pile).

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Sometimes, if a fire is big enough and enough water vapor and updraft is available, pyrocumulus clouds can continue to build into thunderstorms. When they do so, the clouds are called pyrocumulonimbus clouds. “Nimbus” is Latin for “dark cloud,” so you can think of the whole word as meaning “pile of dark fire clouds.”

The fire burning at the Grand Canyon has been deemed a “mega fire.” It erupted due to a lightning strike several weeks ago, the Weather Channel reported Friday.