Wow. After watching radar daily for more than 49 years, I thought I had seen it all when it came to storm warnings.
I was wrong.
The National Weather Service in Reno this afternoon issued what I believe is the first-ever "Firenado" Warning. A firenado is a whirl, like a waterspout, that is caused by extremely hot air being stretched in the vertical and spinning rapidly. They are a hazard to firemen and residents of the immediate area.
The firenado above is small and not much of a threat unless it moved over a bystander. But, there are a few giant firenadoes, which is likely what we had this afternoon. Take a look at the diagram below. On the left is the type of radar image you see on TV. On the right is the wind data.
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Click to enlarge. The red polygon, upper left, is the
tornado warning for the firenado. |
The rotation at upper right is indicative of a moderate to strong tornado. It is likely this is was a very powerful firenado. While I've never heard of an official warning category called firenado, I salute them for their industriousness and creativity. They may have saved some lives. I certainly would have wanted to evacuate the area had I been living there.
Addition: There is a video of the giant vortex
here.
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