An extremely dangerous fire weather day is ahead for communities in the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming, with heightened fire weather alerts issued by the National Weather Service through Friday evening. The situation is deemed a ‘Particularly Dangerous Situation’ due to very high winds combined with an extremely dry airmass and near-record temperatures.
An extremely dangerous fire weather day is ahead for communities in the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming. Heightened fire weather alerts were issued by the National Weather Service through Friday evening. The National Weather Service has deemed the situation a ‘Particularly Dangerous Situation’ regarding the potential for rapid wildfire spread, due to very high winds combined with an extremely dry airmass and near-record temperatures.
Wind gusts of 75+ mph are already occurring, with the strongest gust so far being 113 mph at the NCAR Mesa Lab in Boulder, Colorado. Denver has already recorded a record high. At least a few smaller fires have been spotted from near Colorado Springs to Boulder.
At least one wildfire had to be extinguished near Fort Collins on Thursday due to strong winds. Conditions today are expected to be considerably more favorable for fire growth. A robust low-pressure system is moving through southern Canada, and to the south, over the Rockies, strong winds moving from west to east will blast across the Rockies, leading to extremely strong winds and very dry air on the Colorado and Wyoming front range today.
These conditions could lead to extremely rapid fire growth at any time today through late-evening. The Marshall Fire in 2021, which erupted in Boulder County just before the new year and burned nearly 1000 structures, killing two people, is a reminder of the destructive power of wildfires in the region. It is Colorado’s most destructive wildfire.
The Details:
- Highs: Record warmth in the 60s to low 70s Friday afternoon, 2-3 degrees above previous daily record highs in Denver and Cheyenne.
- Humidity: Could drop as low as 8% around Denver, but will be below 15% for the Front Range and into the Interstate-25 corridor. These will rise Friday night into early Saturday.
- Winds: Wind gusts will exceed 70 mph in the higher elevations west of Interstate-25 between Interstates 70 and 80, including Evergreen, Boulder, Estes Park, and Jamestown, Colorado. Wind gusts on some peaks will eclipse 100 mph. Sustained winds are likely to be over 45 mph at times. These gusts will decrease overnight.
- Lack of Precipitation: Much of the region is in a moderate to severe drought, and snowfall lately has been lacking.
Xcel Energy in Colorado pre-emptively turned off power to some customers earlier this week to avoid sparking fires. Strong winds often bring down powerlines, which can create fires that can spread rapidly on days like today. Additional outages are expected both from the incoming wind event and also as a safety measure from the power companies. More than 100,000 outages were being reported as of late Friday evening, according to poweroutage.us. These were mostly located in the higher elevations west of Denver, with few outages in the city.
Residents are advised to have their go-bags with any essentials ready today. You can find a list that should be in your fire evacuation bags here. If you spot a wildfire or a downed electrical line, please call the authorities.
For the latest updates and information on the fire weather conditions, visit The Weather Channel for continuous coverage.
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