Project Dates

June 10, 2002 to June 14, 2002

Project Description

The 137,760-acre Hayman Fire generated massive amounts of heat, dust and moisture into the sky southwest of Denver. The towering smoke plume from this fire spawned nighttime thunderstorms across the Great Plains. On the night of Monday, June 10th, southwesterly winds drove the smoke and the clouds into northeastern Colorado, where showers and golf ball-sized hail were reported in Washington County near Akron. The next night, Tuesday, June 11th, west winds pushed the clouds east into Kansas, where violent weather erupted and two small tornadoes were triggered in south- central Kansas.

Objectives

This case allows an in-depth study of dynamics of fire weather, such as the impact of fire heat, dust and moisture on the precipitation, and the enhancement of hail and tornado formation.

Data Access for COMET Case Study 043