Home
Weather New York
WeatherRadar
RainRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
Career
    Home / Weather News /

    Giant smoke spirals form after lighting lights wind turbine on fire

01:54 PM
July 25, 2022

Giant smoke spirals
Wind turbine burns after thunderstorm

Privacy policy

A wind turbine in Texas caught fire after being struck by lightning. Video shows how the rotor blade keeps turning and spirals of smoke form.

A strange smoke display appears in Texas on Friday after a thunderstorm struck a wind turbine blade near the small town of Crowell. Just a few seconds later, the blade caught fire as it continued to rotate causing an giant and unique-looking spiral of smoke behind the windmill.

weather-radar-archive-windmill-fire
The responsible thunderstorm can be quickly identified in our WeatherRadar archive.

The rotor blades are usually made of flamable fiberglass and reinforced plastic. So, it doesn't take long for the flames to spread to the rest of the windmill. Eventually, the entire wind turbine was destroyed.

The video puts into perspective just how dangerous lightning can be. A single discharge can produce up to 400,000 amps—conventional house-hold ovens usually have about 20 to 60 amps of current. Bolts can also reach temperatures that are higher than on the sun's surface.

Weather & Radar USA editorial team
Federico Di Catarina
More on the topic
What are weather fronts?. Weather explained. . . Sunday, August 23, 2026
Image of a temperature radar showing a clear distinction between a warm and cold air mass separated by a cold front.
Sunday, August 23, 2026

Weather explained

What are weather fronts?
Hurricane parade in the Pacific. Karina is very strong. . Weather Videos. Tuesday, September 1, 2026
WindRadar for Friday, showing the three hurricanes – Lowell, Karina and Maria – over the Pacific.
Weather VideosTuesday, September 1, 2026

Karina is very strong

Hurricane parade in the Pacific
All about nocturnal severe weather. Risks & preparedness. . . Saturday, August 22, 2026
Saturday, August 22, 2026

Risks & preparedness

All about nocturnal severe weather
All weather news
This might also interest you
What is it, and why is it important?. North American Monsoon. . . Sunday, September 6, 2026
Desert thunderstorm
Sunday, September 6, 2026

North American Monsoon

What is it, and why is it important?
Why the South will sizzle. Heat wave builds. . . Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Heat wave builds

Why the South will sizzle
1,000+ miles of storms. 3 Time zones of action. . . Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Wednesday, September 9, 2026

3 Time zones of action

1,000+ miles of storms
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

instagramfacebookthreadslinkList