DURING last week there were horrific fires around Australia.

South of Millmerran saw a blaze that destroyed land and property while Victoria was ravaged by huge bushfire that unfortunately took a life.

When these fires grow to the ferocity of the ones in Victoria they develop their own weather systems.

These systems are called Pyrocumulus and Pyrocumulonimbus cloud.

These clouds develop because of extreme surface heating coupled with huge updrafts that draw ash and moisture up with it.

As these huge dirty looking clouds rise they can generate thunderstorms and as this happens the cloud forms into a Pyrocumulonimbus cloud.

As the fire rages and continues to produce more surface heating these clouds can start to precipitate because of the strong convective actions they produce.

This rain can, of course, assist in drenching the fire but unfortunately the most likely scenario is they will produce lightning which will start more blazes.

Very strong, gale force winds can develop and even fire tornados may form and spread the fire across the land at phenomenal speeds, up to 60 or 70kmh in some cases.

These raging systems may also be called a firestorm and may continue for days on end in the right conditions. These clouds can be hard to distinguish from the fire as the rise ash and smoke can obscure the base of the cloud.

They also have the ability to reach up to 40000ft into the atmosphere and may be mistaken for a thunderstorm from a distance.