"Extremely Critical" Fire Danger Warning For NW Colorado; Red Flag Warning For Whole Western Slope

[hatrack]

As drought conditions worsened on the Western Slope, the National Weather Service has issued its first “extremely critical” fire danger warning in 15 years for northwest Colorado.

The warning, in effect through midnight, covers parts of Moffat and Rio Blanco counties that also are in a state of “exceptional drought,” according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report.

Link to tweet

About 45% of Colorado, all west of the Continental Divide, now is in some state of drought, with 17.5% falling into the category of exceptional drought, up from 16.4% last week. Most of western Colorado, stretching from the Wyoming border south to New Mexico, falls into the two most severe categories, making the region at risk for extreme damage to crops, blows to the outdoor recreational industry and large wildfires.

EDIT

The weather service also issued a red flag warning for the Western Slope Thursday as wind gusts between 35 to 55 mph could make a potential wildfire difficult to control, especially in northwest Colorado. While (Ed. - climatologist) Peter) Goble said he isn’t ready to declare the fire conditions this summer as dangerous as they were last year, the risk is definitely high. Last year, the state saw three of the worst wildfires on record, including the Cameron Peak fire, which scorched more than 208,000 acres.

EDIT

https://coloradosun.com/2021/06/10/northwest-colorado-extreme-fire-danger-national-weather-service/