Firenado: National Weather Service issues America’s first-ever warning for a fire tornado

The year 2020 continued to make history as a terrible time as America received its first-ever warning of firenadoes.

“The Reno office of the National Weather Service warned Northern California of a fiery tornado Saturday afternoon that had sprung up near a large, fast-moving wildfire in the Sierra. That’s right: A firenado,” the Sacramento Beereported Saturday. “It is the first known issuance of a tornado warning for the climate phenomenon since it burst into California’s consciousness during the deadly Carr Fire in 2018.”

Indeed, Washington Post meteorologist Matthew Cappucci confirmed it was a first.

“For the first time in history, a tornado warning has been issued for a likely fire tornado,” Cappucci reported. “These are not ‘firewhirls.’ This is a rotating smoke plume being ingested into a pyrocumulonimbus cloud that could produce a bonafide fire-induced tornado. Tornadic wind speeds.”

Here are some of the images and videos people were posting online: