The West's wildfires can quickly spread out of control, devastating landscapes and communities.

These wildfires can actually generate their own weather, including firenadoes that can reach temperatures greater than 2000 degrees.

2018's Carr Fire

The most notable firenado recorded is the one generated during the Carr Fire of 2018.

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This fire generated heat so strong that it was able to create its own significant weather, specifically a firenado that was so powerful it was investigated by the National Weather Service.

It surveyed the damage like any other tornado and discovered damage that suggested the firenado reached EF3 strength and had estimated peak winds exceeding 143 mph.

(PHOTOS: Deadly Carr Fire created its own weather)

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The weather service didn't confirm this, but reports later deduced that the firenado also generated temperatures over 2,000 degrees. Temperatures that high are enough to melt several metals.

Firenadoes this strong are dangerous to communities in the area and can be deadly to firefighters. Firenadoes often move unpredictably and are difficult to avoid if they come in your direction.

The firenado's winds were strong enough to uproot trees, debark others and bring about the collapse of high-tension powerline towers, according to the National Weather Service.

In records dating to 1950, there are only two F/EF3 rated tornadoes documented in California, according to NOAA's storm events database, each occurring in the 1970s.

• Feb. 9, 1978, in Orange County
• Aug. 16, 1973, in Riverside County

It is the most recent tornado that was able to generate these winds and was the first in over 40 years.

How did this happen?

Firenadoes occur as rapidly spinning vortices form when air superheated by the intense heat on the ground rises rapidly.

Wind then converges into the fire and rotates around a center point. Similar to a spinning ice skater pulling her arms inward, the firenado spins faster as more wind converges at the center point.

The Carr firenado moved erratically as it remained on the ground, charring the landscape and hurling debris. It was even picked up on radar.

More than firenadoes

Wildfires can generate other weather besides firenadoes. Intense wildfires can generate heat so powerful that they can cause clouds made of ash.

Those clouds can evolve from smaller pyrocumulus clouds into massive pyrocumulonimbus clouds that can reach 50,000 feet into the atmosphere.

(MORE: Wildfire safety 101)

These powerful clouds can generate their own lightning, which can ignite new fires, and “erratic, violent winds that are very unpredictable and can actually help the fire spread.”

At the same time, there is little to no rain that actually reaches the ground from these storms, so they don’t provide much relief from the fire.

Unfortunately, these weather phenomena are becoming more common; we will likely be seeing more wildfires and firenadoes in the years to come.