Record heat and weeks with hardly any rain has left Summit County dry as a bone.
For the first time in a year, local fire managers this morning bumped fire danger to “very high.” They blame it on three factors: dry grasses, dry deadfall and a dry extended forecast.
“We will be evaluating the need to enter into fire restrictions later this week and into next week,” Matt Benedict with Red White & Blue Fire says. “If that decision is made, we will notify the public and stakeholders through multiple channels with dates and an explanation.”
There have been no local fire bans all summer.
Benedict explains how local deadfall – what experts call “1,000-hour fuels” – is almost as dry as kiln-dried lumber. It would take days or even weeks of rain to soak it through.
Then, there is the heat. Just yesterday, Oct. 2, the CSU Colorado Climate Center shows Dillon hit 75 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly breaking a 72-year-old record. That is the official record-keeping station managed by the National Weather Service.
On Sept. 26 the NWS station read 79 degrees, smashing a 71-year-old record.
The Krystalized Weather Station in Dillon shows barely a half-inch of precipitation in the past five weeks. Nearly all of it fell in a few hours the night of Sept. 3.