Thick smoke from massive wildfires has been spreading in North America and Europe once again in 2026. The health impacts of breathing this particle-filled air are becoming well known, but wildfires’ influence on the weather is less widely recognized.

We often think about weather controlling wildfires: Dry air, heat, wind and lightning determine when fires start and how quickly they spread. However, once a wildfire becomes intense enough, the relationship can flip. Instead of simply responding to the weather, the fire begins to create its own weather.

I study wildfires and air quality at the University of Texas at Arlington. Here are four key ways wildfires influence the weather around them:

1. Updrafts and fire tornadoes

Wildfires release a large amount of heat. As the air above the flames heats up rapidly, it becomes lighter than the surrounding air. As a result, the warm air rises.

This upward motion creates a powerful current of air known as an updraft. In some cases, the rising air becomes so strong that it begins to spin, forming a fire whirl, also known as a fire tornado.

The process is very similar to how a typical tornado forms, though fire tornadoes tend to be smaller and, because they feed off the heat, confined to the fire........

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