Bordeaux - 27/07/2026: A pyrocumulonimbus formed above the major fire in the Gironde on Friday, July 24 - a powerful thunderstorm cloud created by the heat of a fire. Marc Vermeulen, head of the SDIS 33 fire and rescue service, described it as a firestorm unlike anything previously observed in France. The phenomenon occurred as the fire entered a strongly convective phase and rising hot air reached great altitudes.A pyrocumulonimbus forms only under exceptional conditions. During a very intense vegetation fire, smoke, ash, water vapor and hot air rise rapidly. ...
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