Firenado caught on camera in Missouri
Firenado caught on camera in Missouri

Firenado caught on camera in Missouri (Photo)

Stunned by the “coolest, scariest thing” she had ever seen, Photographer Janae Copelin caught a snapshot early this week of a rare weather marvel known as a firenado.

The whirling “fire-devil” was spawned as a farmer burned off his field in Chillicothe, Missouri.

A swirling rotation of smoke, gas and debris, a firenado is generated when an active fire is swept upwards by strong winds, creating a vortex.

Ms Copelin was so amazed by what she saw that she posted the image on Instagram so she could share it with followers.

She used the hashtag #nofilter – which users sometimes employ to show they have not used any effects to create the image – to emphasise how shocked she was by what she had seen.

She wrote: ‘Had such a wonderful weekend, but this had to be the coolest/scariest thing I’ve ever seen.

‘A farmer burning off his field and as we stopped so I could take a picture the wind whipped up this fire twister. #nofilter #firestorm #firetwister’.

Fire whirls are formed when intense heat and strong winds combine. The dangerous-looking mixture then creates a tornado-like column which whips up debris and other gases.

Ms Copelin later told KMBC news: ‘Thanks to my love of Instagram I chose to drive by and as I stopped to take a picture the wind whipped up the fire into this funnel.

‘The sound and heat were intense and a bit scary not knowing if it would stay put, but it only lasted a couple minutes.’

Fire whirls are described by meteorologsists as ‘rapidly spinning vortices that form when air superheated by an intense wildfire rises rapidly, consolidating low-level spin from winds converging into the fire like a spinning ice skater, pulling its arms inward’.

Agencies/Canadajournal




  • About News

    Web articles – via partners/network co-ordinators. This website and its contents are the exclusive property of ANGA Media Corporation . We appreciate your feedback and respond to every request. Please fill in the form or send us email to: [email protected]

    Check Also

    Brian Laundrie news: 'We're not wasting our time,' police commander says

    Brian Laundrie news: ‘We’re not wasting our time,’ police commander says

    VENICE, Fla. – Six days into the search for Brian Laundrie, police in North Port …

    Leave a Reply