Fire tornadoes are raging in the USA: extreme weather phenomena provide spectacular images

Fire tornadoes are circling California. Even meteorologists are amazed. The fire brigade seems to be powerless - also because of the special weather conditions.

• California is groaning under a heat wave.
• Now there is a rare danger that puzzles even meteorologists.
• Several fire tornadoes are sweeping the US state.

Loyalton / Munich - Impressive and frightening images from northern California are currently circulating on the Internet. So-called fire tornadoes * can be seen on it . This extremely rare weather phenomenon occurs when hot air gives a fire an angular momentum with a gust of wind, which then sucks up embers and dirt.

This is how "Fox News" explains the development in the most populous US state. The destructive fury of the fire tornadoes is said to have affected 20,000 hectares of land north of Lake Tahoe on the Nevada border since Friday . The cloud of smoke had reached a height of more than 9000 meters and spit out lightning . Just five percent of the fire has so far been contained. The fire brigade seems to be faced with an impossible task.

Here's some photos and videos from the fires and even a tornado in Loyalton, CA #LoyaltonFire #LoyaltonTornado #Loyalton pic.twitter.com/590F7cdav8

Fire Tornadoes in the United States: Evacuations in Cities and Counties

Evacuations have already been initiated in various cities and counties . The US weather service "NWS" warned on Saturday of "extremely dangerous behavior of the fire" . Even then, there were fears that fire tornadoes could arise. Only 20 minutes later, the warning about this very weather phenomenon was issued.

Since then, the alarm messages have been rolling . According to the San Francisco Chronicle , the "NWS" warns for the first time in US history because of a fire of a tornado. "We simply have no other term for this situation," will meteorologist Wendell Hohmann quoted in the newspaper: "We have opted for a Tornado Warning to emphasize the importance." Compared with the Washington Post to the weather * -expert have indicated that such fire tornadoes would only occur once in a human lifetime.

View of a pryocumulus north of Reno this afternoon ... taken from a jet at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Photo from Leah Rowlands. pic.twitter.com/FC5pYQA4G8

Fire tornadoes in California: Eight people died in a similar phenomenon in 2018

Memories come back to 2018, when a fire in California claimed eight lives and destroyed 1,000 buildings, according to "Fox" . At that time, the vortex of fire reached speeds of up to 230 km / h .

But this time the authorities hope to be better prepared. Hundreds of emergency services are trying to contain the fire. "In view of the events at the time, we know what can happen," said Hohmann of the post . For him it looked like a "volcanic pillar" .

⚠️CLOSE CALL. #TMFR Brush Engine 44 on scene earlier today as #LoyaltonFire jumped HWY 395 with vehicles stuck on the road. The crew provided protection and got the vehicles out of harms way. No injuries. pic.twitter.com/iDTWzXo7Y8

Fire tornadoes in California: heat wave in the state makes extinguishing difficult

The current heat wave in California should give the fire tornado an additional boost. In the capital Sacramento, almost 44 degrees were measured on Saturday, in downtown Los Angeles it was more than 36 degrees. In Death Valley, temperatures rose to a record 52 degrees .

Only in the course of the week is a cooling expected, which is why further forest fires are feared. According to the Post , not a few meteorologists fear that extreme fire behavior could become routine . For northern California including San Francisco or Sacramento as well as parts of Nevada there is an official warning of fire and storms that applies until Monday afternoon. (mg) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen network.

#RedFlagWarning in effect for northern California today until tomorrow afternoon for thunderstorms and abundant lightning. Take time to make sure you and your family are wildfire ready. More tips: https://t.co/upBwccxXFO pic.twitter.com/lQJZ9CNCX5

In Germany, with comparatively humane temperatures, violent storms threaten. A video shows a spectacular weather phenomenon on Italy's coast. In Berlin, a rare weather phenomenon resulted in recordings like something out of an apocalypse film. A tornado in the USA already claimed at least 25 lives in the spring. A record-breaking heat value was measured in Death Valley (California) in the USA. If the measurement is confirmed, it would be one of the highest temperatures ever recorded.

A so-called "Lake Fire" left a lunar landscape in California.