Brief
NASA captures rare pileus cloud over Montana wildfire
The image, taken on Aug. 11, shows a veil‑like cloud forming above a pyrocumulus as extreme updrafts lifted moist air.
By Felo News Desk · Published
NASA’s Earth Observatory released an image of a rare pileus cloud hovering over a fire plume during an August 11 flight over the Sand Creek wildfire in Montana, according to the agency’s report dated Sep. 29, 2026.
The high‑altitude research aircraft ER‑2, equipped with the MASTER sensor, captured the phenomenon at 5:40 p.m. local time (23:40 UTC). The visible‑light image shows a thin, circular veil atop a towering smoke‑laden pyrocumulus, while a shortwave‑infrared view highlights active burning along the fire’s perimeter.
Neil Lareau, deputy project investigator for NASA’s INSPYRE (Injected Smoke and Pyrocumulonimbus Experiment) campaign, explained that the pileus formed when the intense updraft from the fire forced a moist air layer upward, causing condensation. He likened the fire plume to a mountain that forces air over it, creating the cap‑like cloud.
Lareau said the observation illustrates the “extreme updraft dynamics” within the fire plume and helps link surface fire behavior to cloud processes, a core goal of the INSPYRE mission.
Key facts
- NASA captured a pileus cloud above a pyrocumulus over the Sand Creek fire in Montana on Aug. 11, 2026. (nasa.gov)
- The image was taken at 5:40 p.m. local time (23:40 UTC) by the MASTER sensor on an ER‑2 aircraft. (nasa.gov)
- Neil Lareau, deputy project investigator for INSPYRE, explained the cloud formed from moist air lifted by the fire’s updraft. (nasa.gov)
Sources
- [1] nasa.gov — originally reported as “Fire Cloud with a Pileus on Top”
