Wildfires in US west fueling extreme weather in other states, study finds

US energy department research links megablazes in the west to hail, deluges and risk of flash floods in central states

Images showing thick clouds of wildfire smoke drifting thousands of miles away have become commonplace in the US in recent years as the country's western states battle megablazes with increasing frequency. But a new study from US Department of Energy suggests the harmful impact of those behemoth blazes may extend much further.

The new study, published by the department's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, for the first time links extreme hail, dangerous deluges, and the growing risk of flash floods in states like Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska to the growing intensity of wildfires in the west.