With thunderstorms expected to bring lightning to parts of the state today, the chance of fire remains high.
Scattered storms are in the forecast through 9 p.m. for central and northwestern Colorado.
“The highest (danger) levels right now are down in the southwest corner of the state and up toward the Gore Range. On the Front Range now, we are in the high category, mainly because we haven’t had any rain in the last few weeks,” said Bob Kleyla, National Weather Service meteorologist.
The service issued a “red flag” warning for lightning for most of western Colorado today, an indication that critical fire-weather conditions either exist or will exist shortly.
The danger remains moderate in the majority of the Rocky Mountain region, which includes Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska.
The greatest danger is in western Colorado and the southern part of the Front Range, according to Steve Segin, a spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center. “To date, Colorado has had 339 fires totaling 89,956 acres, with the Rocky Mountain area averaging 15 new fire starts every day, mostly from lightning.”
Isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected in the metro area this afternoon. The high temperature should be near 92.
While last week was “Colorado Lightning Safety and Wildfire Awareness Week,” the days leading up to and including Fourth of July weekend are being watched warily by emergency-management personnel.
“We’ve had a number of small fires in Jefferson County,” said Rocco Snart, fire-management officer for the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office.
Conditions are dry and getting drier, “but one big missing piece is wind — there’s nothing to drive the fires around,” Snart said.
Jefferson County officials are monitoring wildfire conditions daily, but only two of seven criteria for fire restrictions exist.
“It’s all about being smart and being safe out there,” Snart said.
On Monday, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson ordered a ban on all open fires and open burning due to “an extreme danger” of wildfire.
Exempt from the ban are fires contained in liquid-fueled or gas stoves; fireplaces; wood-burning stoves in buildings; small charcoal or gas-barbecue grills that do not have open flames; and public fireworks displays that have permits and adequate firefighting personnel and equipment.
High temperatures and sparse rain are predicted for the next week to 10 days. After that, the so-called Southwest monsoon may bring relief.
On average, the flow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico usually appears July 3 in Tucson and then lumbers through the Southwest after that.
Where it dumps moisture depends on steering winds influenced by water-temperature variations in the Pacific Ocean, called La Niña or El Niño.
Conditions are favorable this year in eastern Colorado for an enhanced monsoon, said Klaus Wolter, climatologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Colorado at Boulder.
Today, the National Interagency Fire Center increased its fire-danger warning in parts of the West to planning Level 5 — its most severe.
California and parts of the Southwest face the worst conditions.
California has had 4,661 fires totaling 351,231acres to date. One incident-management team and more than 250 firefighters from the Rocky Mountain region have been sent to manage and fight fires in California and the Southwest.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
