Photo: Getty Images
An incredible video captured a "smoke swirl" forming over the Pipeline Fire near Flagstaff, Arizona.
It's a phenomenon that Weather Channel Meteorologist Ari Sarsalari said is "not every day you see something like this."
The time-lapse video shows a swirl of smoke forming what looks like a huge wave forming a water tunnel. Sarsalari explained just what exactly is happening:
"Any time you've got air flow going over a mountain — that's what this has to do with, the topography — if you've got air flow going over a mountain, it creates these waves down wind. At the top of some of these waves, you will get a little vertical rotation, it's called a rotor, and these things are going on all the time when there's not smoke around or anything that would allow you to see it. The only difference in this video is that there happens to be smoke around, so you can actually see it in progress."
The meteorologist added that pilots are aware of this type of air flow because they "fly through it all the time."
You can watch the video here.