Friday, December 31, 2021

2021 wildfire season: Marshall Fire (Boulder CO)

I was intending to write a different sort of post on this New Years Eve. My plans changed when I woke up and saw the news of the wind-driven fire burning near Boulder Colorado that may have already destroyed hundreds of homes. Evacuations are in place and power outages have been reported. See for example this CNN report (with video), I saw CNN's reporting first. I then checked out the Washington Post which I subscribe to, finding this article (paywall). 

Those of you interested in current local media coverage might want check out CBS 4 News in Denver, here is their latest update and 9 News in Denver, who reported on the fire here. I am never sure how long local media maintains links to their articles, all links worked at the time I wrote this post. On April 6, I noted that embedded video no longer works, but the direct link to the video still works.

Direct link to video from 9News on YouTube

Knowing that Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today would be covering this fire, I want to his site and just saw his December 31st article on the fire with his usual great maps of the fire. Bill also reported on the fire on December 30th. Bill also refers to local media in his coverage. Bill wrote about today's weather forecast as affects the fire in his December 31st post:

The weather has changed for the better, as least from a firefighting viewpoint. The 50 to 100 mph winds with low humidities are being replaced Friday morning with temperatures around freezing and a 40 percent chance of snow. By 11 a.m. that chance will increase to 76 percent, then 96 percent by sunset. Snow accumulations are predicted to be 0.6 inch during the day on Friday, with another 5 inches overnight and into Saturday morning. The wind Friday will be out of the north switching to the east at 7 to 9 mph gusting in the afternoon to 16 mph. We don’t often include wind chill in our articles about ongoing wildfires, but that will be a factor today — 25 degrees dropping to 17 degrees by 5 p.m.

Bill will be updating his article on the fire as appropriate; he always does a great job covering wildfires. 

I offer my prayers for all affected by the Marshall Fire. Profound thanks to all the wildland firefighters working this fire during a holiday week.

I will resume my posts in the series on Michigan Fires of the late 19th and early 20th centuries on Monday, January 3rd.

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