Why did the Australian bushfires cause pitch darkness during the daytime? Saturday 4th January was truly an extroadinary and terrible day for the south-east corner of Australia. Skies turned pitch black at around 3-5 pm, when normally these areas would be in daylight. I have never been aware of this sort of phenomenon. Is it possible that thick smoke alone could have caused this, or was it larger particles such as burnt leaves and bark, picked up by strong updraughts from pyrocumulus clouds? It is worth noting that this occurred right before a cold front passed through the area, bringing southerly winds, and that pyrocumulus clouds had formed, and lightning was being generated from them.
It's a combination of both the density and amount of smoke in the air and ash produced by the fire.

The thing about cold fronts and bush fires is they make the conditions for fire worse by pushing hot air in front of them. They have been blamed for the severity of the bush fires in Victoria in 2009, 1983 and 1939.