As if we need another day of awful weather regarding wildfires – today is going to be a warm, dry and VERY windy day for the Cameron Peak Fire and the East Troublesome Fire. But we knew this was coming ahead of a very potent cold front that will move in later tonight and into Sunday morning.
Cameron Peak Fire: 207,464 acres burned. 60% contained. Largest wildfire in Colorado history
East Troublesome Fire: 188,389 acres burned. 4% contained. Second largest wildfire in Colorado history.
Climate Change is real and is literally happening right in front of us currently.
Satellite imagery from the NWS in Boulder shows that there are a few hotspots to watch today as winds start to crank upwards of 60 mph. Unfortunately, one of those hotspots is in Rocky Mountain NP on the east side of the Divide near Estes Park. Downsloping winds reaching up to 70 mph will aid in the fire spreading quickly. There are worries that some buildings and structures in and around Estes Park will be threatened or destroyed today.
Winds will continually blow between 50-70 mph throughout the entire day. Dewpoint values are in the single digits or teens and humidity values are in the teens, 20s and 30s for some. So it is very dry. The possibility of the two fires combing today is a real threat.
A Red Flag warning is post for most of the mountain areas due to the nature of the wether today. If any other wildfires start, they have the possibility of growing out of control rapidly. Unfortunately, those same words can be used for the fires already burning. These conditions are what led to the East Troublesome Fire growing rapidly out of control on Wednesday night.
EVACUATION UPDATES: For the east Troublesome and Cameron Peak Fires: visit https://nocoalert.org/ for the latest updates and evacuations.
For the East Troublesome Fire in Grand county and updates regarding that area: please visit CO.Grand.CO.us
If you need a pleace to bring animals or livestock, see below:
It is going to be a very rough and traumatic day for these areas facing evacuations. Erratic fire behavior is already being seen and will continue through much of the afternoon and evening.
Snow and cold move in tonight which will greatly help diminish the threat of these wildfires but there is a full day of nasty weather before that happens.
Stay safe.
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