Rare ‘firenado’ captured tearing through Queensland

A rare firenado has been captured tearing through Queensland as terrifying bushfires continue to rage across the east coast of Australia.

Dramatic video has emerged of a “firenado” tearing through Queensland.

The shocking footage of the fire tornado shows it whipping around on Saturday as it moves across dry grassland in Bundamba in Ipswich.

The firenado came dangerously close to homes as more than 100 bushfires ravaged the state across the weekend.

The centre of a fire tornado can get up to 1093C as smoke and embers draw into the “chimney” of the fire.

Similar to a figure skater wrapping their arms around to twist faster and faster, the same angular momentum takes place within the tornado.

Eventually the firenado spins out, as an ice skater would opening their arms to slow down.

The firestorm forms as converging air is forced upwards with very hot temperatures at the surface.

“As hot air rises from the ground, it forms vertical columns, or ‘chimneys’, until it becomes less dense, cools and then dissipates at higher altitudes,” writes Marc Lallanilla on Live Science.

“As more hot air is pulled into the rising column, it begins to swirl in a vortex, not unlike the vortex that’s formed when water drains from a bathtub.”

A dramatic firenado captured in Queensland.

Last year a firenado formed during the deadly Carr Fire in northern California.

The churning funnel of smoke and flames killed a firefighter as it exploded in what already was a vast and devastating wildfire in July on the edge of Redding, about 400km north of San Francisco.

A subsequent study in the Geophysical Research Letters journal used satellite and radar data to suggest how the monstrous firenado the size of three football fields developed on July 26.

It said the firenado was formed in much the same way as a regular tornado, which differs from the “fire whirls” that are formed only by heat from a wildfire.

According to the study, the only other documented case of such a “firenado” was during the 2003 Canberra fires in Australia.

Other dramatic footage from the bushfires in NSW shows terrifying flames swarming firefighters in the middle of a firestorm.

Just... Watch this video. All 53 seconds of it.
Footage from within the NSW bushfires from firefighters. #Firestorm #NSWfires

via https://t.co/Q7kE1b1FTN pic.twitter.com/JNDdKyj0Tr

— George Roff (@JezRoff) December 6, 2019

Firefighters in NSW are racing to try to tamp down a number of blazes around the state before temperatures soar later this week.

Better weather yesterday provided an opportunity for critical backburning and containment work ahead of Tuesday, when the mercury is tipped to soar into the 40s in parts of the state.

That work will continue today as about 90 fires burn across NSW, half of which are not contained, and almost 2000 firefighters work in the field

Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said Tuesday would likely bring high temperatures, low humidity and high winds, as well as several thunderstorms with the high risk of lightning strikes.

“There’s going to be a very dry air again as well, humidity is going to be really low, there’s going to be some winds,” Mr Fitzsimmons told the Seven Network.

“Unfortunately tomorrow afternoon with the change, they’re expecting lots of thunderstorm activity and the potential for lots of new lightning and fires.”

Meanwhile, a fire danger rating will remain very high for large parts of Queensland today but ease again into the week.

With AAP