Weather experts explain why Friday’s fire danger was so extreme

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - Weather experts at KRDO and the National Weather Service (NWS) in Pueblo explain the extreme fire danger across Southern Colorado on Friday.

While the Pikes Peak Region has experienced Red Flag Warnings throughout April, the conditions on Friday, April 22 made fire danger especially severe.

A lot of high impact weather expected on Friday. Make sure to take some time to read over these graphics to make sure you are ready for the potential hazards tomorrow. #COwx #Colorado pic.twitter.com/R88CORit9M

— NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) April 21, 2022

The NWS expected Friday to be volatile and explosive in terms of fire weather concerns, and the last time we had a day like this in Southern Colorado was 2018.

A High Wind Warning is in effect until midnight. KRDO Meteorologists' forecast showed sustained winds at 35 to 45 miles per hour and winds gusting as high as 70 mph. It will also be extremely warm across the region with temperatures in the upper-80s and low-90s.

There have been numerous Red Flag Warnings throughout April. So what made today so much more extreme?

"The biggest difference today is the extremely strong winds that we're going to see," said Stormtracker 13 Meteorologist Chris Larson. "We have a lot of days where we have Red Flag Fire Warnings and that simply means you've got winds gusting over 25 miles an hour and relative humidity's generally below 15 percent, over about a three-hour period. Today, we've got that combination, but we've also got much stronger winds. We're talking about sustained winds of 45 miles an hour and winds possibly gusting in the range of 60 to 70 miles an hour. So you combine that with relative humidity below 10 percent and the extremely dry fuels because we just haven't had any precipitation in the last couple of months, it's one of those situations that should a fire start, it could get out of control very quickly."

"We're talking about the combination of dry conditions and strong winds and hot temperatures, and that is quite rare," said Dr. Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge at NWS Pueblo. "It's been only a handful of times over the past couple of decades that we've actually seen all of these conditions come together to create a very favorable environment for the rapid spread of wildfires across our Eastern Plains areas of southern Colorado and I-25 corridor.”

While the NWS tracks storms and systems, they also track fires via satellite imagery and are often the first eyes to spot a problem and alert officials.

"We notify our partners from with the National Weather Service," said Dr. Cohen. "That is our local emergency management, as well as law enforcement so that they're aware of what we're seeing in our weather data to indicate if we have any fires."

The Stormtracker 13 Team and the NWS also work together closely every day to ensure important weather information is conveyed to the community.

"We follow the lead of the National Weather Service," said Larson. "We, of course, do our own forecasting. We look at the model data and we come up with our forecast that we give you on television. But it's the National Weather Service that's kind of that coordinating body. They're the ones that issue red flag fire warnings. They're the ones that issue high wind warnings. They're the ones that issue severe thunderstorm warnings. So we follow their lead. We don't go out and issue our own warnings. That's something that we simply don't do."

"We maintain communication with all of our partners, that includes the media as well," said Dr. Cohen. "So we're able to communicate what we're seeing out in the field, get an idea of what's going on. So we're all working together as the integrated weather team to keep all of the residents across southern, south-central Colorado safe from these dangerous weather conditions."

Weather experts also remind everyone to stay vigilant as we will continue to see severe fire conditions through the weekend, and very likely into summer.

"Be weather-ready, be prepared for fires, and don't be complacent," said Larson. "We're going to have a lot more days this summer where I'm sure we're going to have red flag fire conditions."

"Be very careful at all times when dealing with anything that could cause a spark or ignition," said Dr. Cohen. "Avoid it. Do not be the one responsible for creating that fire because many people can be affected if we end up with a fire that spreads very rapidly."