Instagram Photo Captures ‘Firenado’ in Stunning Detail

A Missouri woman reportedly captured an incredible picture of a fiery phenomenon known as a “firenado” last weekend.

Janea Copelin posted the photo on Instagram and it quickly went viral. She says a farmer was burning off his field when the wind helped form the firenado.

The Weather Channel explains what causes such an occurrence:

Firewhirls turn and burn. They are rapidly spinning vortices that form when air superheated by an intense wildfire rises rapidly, consolidating low-level spin from winds converging into the fire like a spinning ice skater, pulling its arms inward.

The typical firewhirl can grow to about 100 feet tall, but is very narrow, on the order of a couple of feet wide.

(H/T: NBC News)