Photo: Hailstones–imagine some as large as a baseball
Western wildfires are sparking stronger storms in downwind states as their heat and airborne particles bring baseball-sized hail, heavier rain and flash flooding to states like Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas. Typically, western wildfires and storms in the Central U.S. are separated by seasons. As blazes begin earlier each year, however, the two events now strike closer together. Future wildfires are expected to increase, particularly in the west, as well as severe storms in the Central U.S. So, these co-occurring events may happen more frequently, and the impact of western wildfires on central storms may become increasingly important.
www.pnnl.gov/news-media/western-wildfires-spark-stronger-storms-downwind-states