Tag Archives: Alaska

Stunning image captures lightning strike from wildfire’s pyrocumulus cloud

Weather of course clearly affects wildfires but fires themselves can literally create their own weather.  One such phenomena are pyrocumulus clouds and a photo from a wildfire in Alaska provides a stunning example.

Pyrocumulus clouds are formed by fires or volcanos when the intense heat from the event rises from the surface.  These clouds oftentimes look like dirty thunderstorm clouds directly over a blaze and can give rise to thunderstorm-like weather conditions.

Lightning from these clouds can occur and in particular when coupled with a volcanic eruption are absolutely amazing.  With wildfires, the strong winds and lightning can result in dangerous and unpredictable expansion of a fire.

The Moon Lake Complex Fire is currently burning in eastern Alaska and has scorched over 18,000 acres.  Inciweb posted a photo of a pyrocumulus cloud over the blaze near Tok that let loose a stunning bolt of lightning.

June 2, 2013 - A pyrocumulus cloud above the Moon Lake Complex Fire in Alaska unleashes a lightning bolt. (Inciweb)
June 2, 2013 – A pyrocumulus cloud above the Moon Lake Complex Fire in Alaska unleashes a lightning bolt. (Inciweb)

South-central Alaska struck with magnitude 5.0 earthquake

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck north of Anchorage, Alaska on Wednesday evening. (USGS)
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck north of Anchorage, Alaska on Wednesday evening. (USGS)

Alaska is one of the most seismically active parts of the United States and early Thursday morning residents near Anchorage received a reminder of that fact. A magnitude 5.0 temblor stuck in the evening hours on Wednesday and was felt across the south-central area of the state.

Centered 50 miles north-northwest of Anchorage, the quake struck at 07:15pm and according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was at a depth of 12.9 miles below the surface.

The service said it had received reports of the temblor being felt as far away as Palmer and Valdez to the east and Skwentna to the west. Residents of Anchorage and Seward to the south also felt the shaking.

Being along the Pacific Ring of Fire, Alaska regularly experiences earthquakes although most are small and not felt. The boundary of the North American and Pacific tectonic plates that runs through south-central Alaska and the Aleutian Islands is where most of the activity occurs.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center (AEIC) says that the state receives from 50 to 100 earthquakes a day. Three of the 10 largest earthquakes recorded in the world, all larger than magnitude 7.9, have been recorded in Alaska.

For all the latest on earthquakes as well as other natural disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and more, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.