the.com/firestorm
a fire so hungry it builds its own weather and breathes in hurricane.
means A fire so large and intense that it generates and sustains its own wind system, drawing in air violently from all sides — and by extension, any sudden, overwhelming outburst of public outrage or controversy.
from A transparent compound of "fire" and "storm," both ancient Germanic words — "fire" from Old English "fȳr," "storm" from Old English "storm." The literal meteorological sense, describing the self-feeding infernos that can arise in massive fires, came into prominence in English in the 20th century, grimly associated with the conflagrations of wartime bombing, where heat so intense it bent the air into gales made the metaphor terribly literal. The figurative "firestorm of criticism" sense followed, borrowing that same image of a blaze that feeds on itself and spreads beyond control.
- self-made wind
- Draws air inward at over 100 mph.
- temperature
- Core can exceed 1,500 degrees Celsius.
- war origin
- Allied bombing of Dresden and Hamburg spawned firestorms.
- tornado cousin
- Can spin up actual fire whirls, or firenadoes.
- self-sustaining
- Burns until fuel or oxygen finally runs out.
operation gomorrah — july 1943 bombing of hamburg created a firestorm that killed 37,000 people
tokyo firebombing 1945 — march 9-10 air raid firestorm killed over 100,000 people in tokyo