Waldo Canyon Fire challenges incident meteorologist
The Waldo Canyon Fire has been deemed the most destructive fire in Colorado history.
There are thousands of emergency personnel working on the fire, but equally important as those on the front lines are those working behind the scenes.
Julia Ruthford is the incident meteorologist for the Waldo Canyon Fire. She said it is her job to focus on the fire directly, keeping an eye on what kind of weather will move into the area and how it will impact the fire fighting effort.
“It’s probably top as far as the scale of just complexity and business. It’s not the biggest one I’ve been on acre-wise, but I think it’s probably the hardest,” said Ruthford.
Ruthford said the afternoon thunderstorms are a particular challenge. She said the thunderstorms can produce gusty, outflow winds which can dramatically change wind directions over the fire. These types of events are responsible for the spread of the fire last Tuesday.
“I know I have done more updates on any one given day than I ever have on a fire, as far as alerts to the field to let them know what different outflow boundaries are coming,” said Ruthford.
Ruthford said another issue that complicates the forecast is the terrain, citing the peaks and narrow valleys.
Ruthford said the ideal weather pattern to move over the blaze, contrary to popular belief, is not a drenching downpour.
“What we really need if we were wish-casting, ideally, we would need light rain that lasted for a long time,” she said.
Ruthford explained a thunderstorm directly over the burn scar would increase the likelihood of flash flooding and debris flows, both of which can cause major problems for surrounding areas.
To help forecast for events like these, Ruthford is equipped with data streaming into her computer from five weather stations positioned around the fire. Ruthford also has access to another weather station supported by the Forest Service, as well as those located on the Air Force Academy.
Some firefighters are also transmitting data directly from the field, using portable weather kits they carry with them.
Ruthford said it is rare to have this much data to forecast off of.
Ruthford has been forecasting with the National Weather Service for about 10 years and told KRDO Newschannel 13 that despite the challenges, she loves what she does.
“I was hooked the first fire I went to. I just really love the fact that the weather information I’m giving is used so very directly by the firefighters, and you can really see the impact of it,” said Ruthford.
