Radar analysis of the Las Conchas Fire

The Las Conchas fire started early afternoon on June 26, 2011 when a tree fell on a power line. During the afternoon the fire spread eastward with little lateral spread due to strong winds. As night approached it was expected that the winds would die down and conditions would improve. The fire was moving into an area of sparse Pinon-Juniper fuels that were not expected to carry fire; yet, by 3:00 am MDT on June 27 the fire had burned approximately 43,000 acres, growing by nearly 700% between 8:00 pm and 3:00 am (MDT). Using NEXRAD radar data we analyze the plume structure in an attempt to determine the mechanism that drove this fire to consume over one acre per second during its nighttime run. High resolution WRF simulations will be used to investigate potential mechanisms in more detail.