Then all hell broke loose.
What looked like a promising water year quickly dried up.
An extremely warm, dry April, May and June combined with the fourth consecutive year of Colorado missing out on July monsoon moisture set the stage for the largest wildfire season in state history.
This year s statewide snowpack was just 77% of average as of Monday.
While the South Platte Basin, which includes Fort Collins and Denver, was at 96% of average Monday, the drought-stricken Western Slope remains exceptionally dry with none of the basins reaching 80% of average.
And that has caused great concern.
Much of the state is still facing some degree of drought from last year, with the Western Slope in extreme drought. Without the March 12-14 storm that dumped 2 to 4 feet of wet snow in the foothills and mountains east of the Continental Divide and soaked the Eastern Plains with inches of rain, the drought and wildfire situation would be dire.
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The Cameron Peak Fire burned through the headwaters for northern Colorado s Poudre River and many of its small tributaries.
Record-breaking wildfires in 2020 turned huge swaths of Western forests into barren burn scars. Those forests store winter snowpack that millions of people rely on for drinking and irrigation water. But with such large and wide-reaching fires, the science on the short-term and long-term effects to the region’s water supplies isn’t well understood.
To understand, and possibly predict what happens after a river’s headwaters goes up in flames, researchers are descending on newly created burn scars across the West to gather data in the hopes of lessening some of the impacts on drinking water systems.
Memorial Day in Colorado mountains to look different due to fire, reservations and COVID-19 Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Cameron Peak Fire scars Poudre Canyon lives, landscape
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The pandemic and the Cameron Peak Fire have put a significant crimp on recreating on the Roosevelt National Forest and in Rocky Mountain National Park over the past year, with lingering impacts continuing this year.
While COVID-19 restrictions have largely been lifted, visitors to the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the national forest and the national park will be impacted visually and physically as the busy Memorial Day weekend approaches.
The pandemic and the Cameron Peak Fire have put a significant crimp on recreating on the Roosevelt National Forest and in Rocky Mountain National Park over the past year, with lingering impacts continuing this year.
While COVID-19 restrictions have largely been lifted, visitors to the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the national forest and the national park will be impacted visually and physically as the busy Memorial Day weekend approaches.
The nearly 209,000-acre fire, the largest in state history, has closed large sections of the national forest and park. The burn scar is visible in large swaths of mountainsides along the Poudre River from Rustic west to Chambers Lake and in the park.
Wildfire Defense Systems, based in Bozeman, Mont., provides private firefighting for insurance companies. It is considered the third-largest fire agency behind the federal government and the state of California. It s not a first responder service, it s mitigating structures, preparing them for fires, and so it s a service that s not in there with the first responders, said Torgerson.
He explained that the fire crews will be away from the active fire, preparing homes that are insured with companies they work with. We would do things like fuel mitigation, embers, leaves, sprinkler systems, retardant fire lines outside of the property on natural vegetation, fire blocking gel sprayed on the property. We just keep going and apply the tactics that it takes to make sure that the cycle of ignition does not occur on that structure, said Torgerson. We take a lot of firewood piles and move them 100 feet away from the property. We turn off barbecues. Actually, one of the big things that