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What we see when great multitudes of smoke start to drift out of Mount Doom during the War of the Ring, is another classic example of an evil conception on Sauron's part. This is a slightly re-occurring theme, since Melkor did the exact same thing when he was being assailed in his fortress of Angband by the forces of Fëanor. It can be viewed as an attempt to strike fear into the opponent (a physiological weapon as A_Brandybuck rightly mentioned) and to act as a smoke screen to avoid the eyes of spies and as a way for the armies of Mordor to enter and leave the Black Land undetected so as to gain an upper-advantage on the enemy who would be at unawares. Maybe the fires of Orodruin were in great tumult as they were being utilised as a source of developing Sauron's armies (e.g. making armour and weaponry with the fires it provided).
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