State forestry officials warn that below-average snowpack and record-low humidity in April have set the stage for a dangerous fire season across Jefferson and Clear Creek counties.
Colorado's State Forest Service issued a High Fire Danger advisory on Monday covering a 12-county swath of the Front Range, citing a combination of factors that officials say mirrors — and in some respects exceeds — conditions that preceded the 2021 Marshall Fire.
Snowpack in the South Platte River basin sits at 61% of its historical median for late April, according to data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Meanwhile, April recorded its lowest average relative humidity in the Denver metro since records began in 1948, hovering near 18% on most afternoons.
"The fuel moisture levels we're seeing in the foothills are what we'd typically expect in mid-July," said Lisa Trombetta, a fire behavior analyst with the Colorado State Forest Service. "Grasses that would normally still be green and matted from snowmelt are already dry and standing. One errant spark is all it takes."
Jefferson County has preemptively banned open burning through June 1st and is urging residents in wildland-urban interface zones to clear defensible space around their homes. Clear Creek County issued a similar ban on Monday, with county commissioners warning that fire suppression resources may be stretched thin if multiple ignitions occur simultaneously.
The advisory comes as the U.S. Forest Service prepares for what it projects will be an above-normal wildfire season nationally. A La Niña weather pattern that persisted through the winter has left much of the interior West drier than average.
Residents in high-risk areas are encouraged to sign up for county emergency alert systems, develop evacuation plans, and visit colorado.gov/wildfire for defensible space guidelines. The next fire danger assessment is scheduled for May 12th.