Friday, June 29, 2018

A Smoky, Hazy Day in Boulder

I opened my bedroom window at 11:30 last night  and immediately smelled smoke.  I didn't worry because I know the wildfires are miles away, but the smell persisted all night.  The haze from the smoke has increased greatly in the two and a half hours since I arose this morning; it's amazing to me. I'm used to the haze from heat and humidity on the islands in Virginia, and down in Florida.  I have yet to become accustomed to haze from wildfires.
   The closest fires are several counties - and miles - away.  There is a fire called the Sugarloaf fire burning in pine beetle-infested trees in the Williams Fork area of the Rocky Mountain National Park in Grand County, but spreading toward Summit County.  It is 0 % contained.  When first spotted, it was reported at less than one-tenth acre yesterday afternoon; it's now burned more than 900 acres.  Also burning in Grand County, near the town of Grand Lake, is a fire that began on the local golf course - it has burned more than 20 acres, and more than 350 homes have been evacuated.  A fire near Weston Pass in Park County has burned nearly 50 acres.
  The other large, new, wildfire (Spring Creek) was first spotted nines miles east of Fort Garland in Costilla County yesterday, and with high winds, has burned over 14,000 acres and looks to go across the county line into Huerfano County.  The 416 Wildfire is still burning merrily in La Plata County, near Durango, and has consumed 41,617 acres so far.  And the Burro Wildfire in Montezuma County has seared almost 4,000 acres.
   To the south, there are two nearby fires in New Mexico, the Sardinas Canyon and the San Antonio, that have burned over 1,000.  There are many more wildfires burning south of Colorado. To our north, in Albany County, Wyoming, the Badger Creek fire is 80 % contained, but has burned 20,357 acres.
   There are 54 wildfires currently burning west of the Mississippi, with quite a few burning in Alaska.  If you want check up on wildfire activity, I like two websites:  InciWeb  at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ ; and the Active Fire Mapping Program at the USDA Forest Service site at  https://fsapps.nwcg.gov/

  We, the state of Colorado, is once again bone dry, thanks to the heat and our low humidity.  It was 102 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday with 10% humidity; today our high is forecast for 95 with about the same level of humidity...  And, as a series of low pressure fronts sweep up from the southwest tonight, we have been told to except gusty winds - up to 80 miles per hour - ahead of the (hopefully) rain-bearing system tomorrow.  Just think - bone dry conditions and 80 mile an hour wind gusts... a pyromaniac's wet dream...
  And the thing I really cannot understand is people getting angry about the no open fires and no  - oh, my God! - fireworks orders in effect because of the usual drought.  Campfires and fireworks and cigarettes - other than Mother Nature's lightning bolts - are the main causes of wildfires.  Why can't most people understand and accept that fact?

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