Jeff Mitton: Wildfires generate their own weather
(World News Science)

Jeff Mitton Natural Selections I was driving north from the Navajo Nation toward Durango with the intent of camping on Cumbres Pass in the South San Juan Mountain when I saw something that changed my plans. Four days previously my route to the Navajo Nation had brought me near Durango, so I expected to see a plume of smoke, but the 416 Fire had flared, so smoke and a roiling cloud were rising to nearly 25,000 feet. I immediately resolved that I was not going to camp downwind of that. My revised route took me west and north to Cortez, where I had a good view of the smoke and rising cloud. From my vantage 45 miles to the west, some portions of the...