Violent pyro-convective storm devastates Australia's capital and pollutes the stratosphere

Michael Fromm*, Andrew Tupper, Daniel Rosenfeld, René Servranckx, Rick McRae

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

143 Scopus citations

Abstract

Headline-making firestorms in southeast Australia in 2003, responsible for at least 500 destroyed buildings and four lost lives, culminated with pyro-cumulonimbus (pyroCb) "eruptions" that ravaged Canberra on 18 January. Here we reveal that in their 3-hour lifetime, the Canberra pyroCbs also produced a stratospheric smoke injection that perturbed the hemispheric background analogous to the theorized "nuclear winter." We use an unprecedented array of data to analyze the Canberra pyroCbs' distinctive stratospheric impact, microphysics, energetics, and surface manifestations - including suppressed precipitation, an F2 tornado, and black hail.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberL05815
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume33
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Mar 2006

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