Modes of pyrocumulonimbus development in southeast Australia

Pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb)-bushfire-generated thunderstorms-have been associated with extreme fire behaviours during some of Australia's most notorious and destructive bushfire events, including Ash Wednesday 1983, Canberra 2003, Black Saturday 2009, and the Black Summer of 2019-20.PyroCb are increasingly common in Australia.Since the first recorded pyroCb in 1983, 144 events have been recorded, with over 100 of those occurring just since 2010.The southeast mainland (Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory) is particularly vulnerable (McRae 2025).