How the rain impacts fire danger in Colorado

Heavy rain battered much of southern Colorado Monday afternoon and evening, and Colorado Springs now has received more than three inches of rain this month.

That’s 64 percent more rain than the average totals month-to-date. During that same time frame, Pueblo has stacked up nearly two inches of rain. That’s 20 percent above-the-norm.

How much has this recent moisture lowered fire danger? Already, we’ve seen Woodland Park and Pueblo County lift their fire restrictions. StormTracker 13’s Abby Acone did some research and made some calls to get some answers.

As it turns out, there are generally two types of “fuels” or vegetation: one – smaller, finer fuels like brush and grass and two – heavier fuels like logs and beetle-kill trees.

Those finer fuels like brush and grasses respond to heavy rain very well. In fact, our downpours on Monday dampened that vegetation very effectively. Unfortunately, those smaller fuels dry out fast. If we have dry and windy weather just 24 hours after a big storm like what we had Monday, fire danger jumps back up to a high level. We need either high humidity levels, heavy rain or both on a daily basis to maintain that lower fire danger.

What about the heavier fuels – how did Monday’s storms impact those? That kind of larger vegetation needs steady rain over a longer period of time. Sadly, that means that our flash-flooding rains Monday didn’t make a dent to those fuels.

Our relatively dry winter and spring have put these fuels at critical levels, contributing to our massive wildfires in the recent months. We probably won’t get steady, longer-duration precipitation until the fall and winter. In the meantime, we have to use extreme caution to avoid activities that could lead to fire starts.

We’re also monitoring our severe drought. One single rain event doesn’t make a significant impact in improving our drought. It takes multiple storm systems to see changes reflected in our drought monitor. We’ll track it.