Winds to Hinder Colorado Firefighting Efforts
The wildfire burns outside of Boulder, Colo. on Tuesday Sept. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/ Matt McClain)
Gusty winds threaten to hinder the efforts of firefighters battling the destructive Fourmile Canyon fire near Boulder, Colo., into tonight.
Wind speeds will average between 12 and 25 mph today, especially this afternoon, as a cold front sweeps through Colorado. The winds will blow from the southwest.
The winds will become more westerly this evening and howl even stronger through tonight in the front's wake.
Worsening the situation is the fact that humidity will lower as today progresses.
The fire broke out in rugged canyons in the Colorado foothills just west of Boulder on Monday. According to the Boulder County, Colo., government website, the blaze has charred over 6,000 acres as of late Wednesday.
Behind a cold front that passed through early Monday morning, the relative humidity dropped rapidly, reaching extremely low values in the single digits throughout the afternoon and evening hours. The lowest value of 3 percent was reached after 4 p.m. MT.
Such extremely low values of relative humidity are not often seen in the United States. Areas of the world that are more likely to have such low relative humidities are deserts of northern Africa, Arabia and Australia.
Furthermore, during the afternoon and evening on Monday and Tuesday, strong winds picked up behind the front and were funneled through the canyon. The strongest wind gusts howled at 30 to 45 mph.
The winds were also blowing from different directions, spreading the fire in multiple directions.
Besides fighting the weather, firefighters have been battling rugged terrain.
Boulder County government website reports that nearly 140 structures have been destroyed with an additional two dozen damaged. More than 3,000 residents have been forced from their homes.
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
The Associated Press reports that disease, drought and beetles burrowing under bark of pine trees in the region has killed them. More than 3.5 million acres of trees in Colorado and southeastern Wyoming have been killed by these threats, providing plenty of fuel for the blaze.
AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski contributed to the content of this story.
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