The United States incurred 73% of the losses in a tame first half of the year for worldwide weather-related disasters.

The rare and fiery tornado was spotted Saturday near a fire in California. The National Weather Service Office issued a tornado warning for a pyrocumulonimbus cloud that formed by the Loyalton Fire.

The witness who recorded the video said the spinning vortex tore up an orchard as it churned its way across the area. No other damage was reported. California sees only about 10 tornadoes each year.

South of the border, blazes in California have produced at least one significant fire-induced tornado in recent years—an EF-3 tornado during July 2018’s Carr Fire. Strong rotation within fire ...