Tornadoes and Wildfire in California, September 4 to 30, 2020

The Creek fire started at 633 pm PDT on September 4th (Labor Day Weekend) in the vicinity of Big Creek, California near the town of Shaver Lake. The fire was in an area of very heavy tree mortality in the Sierra National Forest. The fire had explosive grown on September 5th and 6th under excessive heat and low humidity, but not much wind. The fire became plume dominated on the 5th and column collapses were noted by AlertFire Cameras late on the 5th within the extremely unstable environment. Damaging fire whirls occurred just north of Mammoth Pool with ground survey estimated winds at 115-125 mph, and near Huntington Lake with patterns indicating winds of 90-107 mph. By the evening of September 6th, the fire fire had grown to 73,278 acres. Extensive smoke|allowed the fire to slow some by Monday and Tuesday September 7th-8th, however the fore continued to grow, reaching nearly 153,000 acres by September 9th. Around this time, the complexity of the incident necessitated management of the fire to be split into a north zone and a south zone with 2 overhead teams assigned. The fire closed Highway 168 and may local roads and there were evacuations of as many as 45,000 people. Hundreds of people were rescued by California National Guard helicopters from the Mammoth Pool area and also from the China Peak ski resort. Hot and dry conditions under strong high pressure continued throughout the remainder of September with extensive smoke often hampering air operations. By the end of September the fire had burned 307,051 acres and had destroyed 853 structures and damaged 64 others. Cost of containment was $106 Million. The fire continued to burn into November.

The Creek fire started at 633 pm PDT on September 4th (Labor Day Weekend) in the vicinity of Big Creek, California near the town of Shaver Lake. The fire was in an area of very heavy tree mortality in the Sierra National Forest. The fire had explosive grown on September 5th and 6th under excessive heat and low humidity, but not much wind. The fire became plume dominated on the 5th and column collapses were noted by AlertFire Cameras late on the 5th within the extremely unstable environment. Damaging fire whirls occurred just north of Mammoth Pool with ground survey estimated winds at 115-125 mph, and near Huntington Lake with patterns indicating winds of 90-107 mph. By the evening of September 6th, the fire fire had grown to 73,278 acres. Extensive smoke|allowed the fire to slow some by Monday and Tuesday September 7th-8th, however the fore continued to grow, reaching nearly 153,000 acres by September 9th. Around this time, the complexity of the incident necessitated management of the fire to be split into a north zone and a south zone with 2 overhead teams assigned. The fire closed Highway 168 and may local roads and there were evacuations of as many as 45,000 people. Hundreds of people were rescued by California National Guard helicopters from the Mammoth Pool area and also from the China Peak ski resort. Hot and dry conditions under strong high pressure continued throughout the remainder of September with extensive smoke often hampering air operations. By the end of September the fire had burned 307,051 acres and had destroyed 853 structures and damaged 64 others. Cost of containment was $106 Million. The fire continued to burn into November.

The Creek fire started at 633 pm PDT on September 4th (Labor Day Weekend) in the vicinity of Big Creek, California near the town of Shaver Lake. The fire was in an area of very heavy tree mortality in the Sierra National Forest. The fire had explosive grown on September 5th and 6th under excessive heat and low humidity, but not much wind. The fire became plume dominated on the 5th and column collapses were noted by AlertFire Cameras late on the 5th within the extremely unstable environment. Damaging fire whirls occurred just north of Mammoth Pool with ground survey estimated winds at 115-125 mph, and near Huntington Lake with patterns indicating winds of 90-107 mph. By the evening of September 6th, the fire fire had grown to 73,278 acres. Extensive smoke|allowed the fire to slow some by Monday and Tuesday September 7th-8th, however the fore continued to grow, reaching nearly 153,000 acres by September 9th. Around this time, the complexity of the incident necessitated management of the fire to be split into a north zone and a south zone with 2 overhead teams assigned. The fire closed Highway 168 and may local roads and there were evacuations of as many as 45,000 people. Hundreds of people were rescued by California National Guard helicopters from the Mammoth Pool area and also from the China Peak ski resort. Hot and dry conditions under strong high pressure continued throughout the remainder of September with extensive smoke often hampering air operations. By the end of September the fire had burned 307,051 acres and had destroyed 853 structures and damaged 64 others. Cost of containment was $106 Million. The fire continued to burn into November.

Storm survey conducted by on site NWS IMET. EF2 damage just north of Mammoth Pool, inside Wagner Campground and near Chawanakee Joint Elementary School. Multiple 2 foot diameter trees were snapped 20-30 feet up with branches and bark removed. The firewhirl prodcued estimated winds at 115-125 mph.

Storm survey conducted by on site NWS IMET near Huntington Lake indicating winds of 90-107 mph consistent with an EF1 tornado. The firewhirl was a result of unprecedented fire behavior. Video and pictures show large live 15 inch diameter trees snapped. Several large root balls from the trees were completely pulled out of the ground.