These beautiful photos reveal the extremely rare phenomenon of a "cloud of fire"

In the United States, scientists flew over an extremely rare atmospheric phenomenon called the "fire cloud" – and they captured that unique "supernatural" moment in front of the camera.

NASA and NOAA researchers investigated the smoke produced by the Williams Flats forest fire in Washington when they seized the opportunity to fly inside the rare thunderclap "cloud of fire".

These unusual and massive clouds – called pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) or sometimes cumulonimbus flammagenitus – are formed when fires raise enough heat and humidity in the atmosphere to cause a storm.

"The heating of the fire produces an ascending air column and, under certain favorable weather conditions, you can create a cloud on this plume," said meteorologist David Peterson, chief forecaster of NASA and the NOAA FIREX-AQ Smoke Research Program, The Seattle Times.

(David Peterson / US Navy Research Laboratory)

While the last few weeks have exposed the United States to exceptionally high weather conditions, pyroCb clouds like this one are rare, with the Williams Flats phenomenon being the first thunderstorm fueled by a bush fire on the ground. American continent this year.

Because of this scarcity, the opportunity to get close to and study these unusual clouds is extremely valuable for atmospheric scientists.

The Williams Flats fire – allegedly caused by lightning – began on August 2 this year, but the FIREX-AQ team was brought closer on Aug. 8 aboard NASA's DC-8 research jetliner. .

At an altitude of about 9 kilometers, scientists flew over the cloud of fire, when the photo above was taken. In the haze of smoke particles, the sun sets on the orange.

"The view was absolutely beautiful," Peterson told NASA's Earth Observatory blog.

"Very few photographs of large pyroCb are available, especially from the air."

The pyroCb fire cloud, powered by the smoke plume just below (David Peterson / US Naval Research Laboratory)

But NASA and NOAA did not survive this abnormal event just to see what it looked like.

The flyby also gave researchers the opportunity to sample the most detailed of a pyroCb's history, Peterson said. These measurements will help us understand the composition and chemistry of these rare fire clouds, which could also help us prevent the spread of forest fires.

"Being able to measure pyroCb smoke emissions at 25,000 feet gives us the opportunity to evaluate how smoke is transported," said Rebecca Hornbrook, an atmospheric chemist and FIREX-AQ researcher. .

"And to better predict the impact of large fires."