Ahead of the next wildfire season, Boulder County is expanding its weather monitoring system. It previously had just one weather station, in the Sugarloaf area, to monitor fire conditions across almost 500 square miles. Reporter Tim Drugan with Boulder Reporting Lab joined us to talk about what’s in the works.
“Boulder County and the city of Boulder recently purchased a total of three new Remote, Automated Weather Stations,” Drugan told KUNC. “These weather stations track things like wind speeds, humidity, and fuel moisture levels, all of which understandably play into understanding the county's fire risk.”
Drugan said the station in Sugarloaf is somewhat centrally located for Boulder County. But one station can't gather an accurate representation of fire risk for such a large county with such widely varying elevations and topography.
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“There could be snow in the mountains in western Boulder County while the eastern plains are tinder,” he told KUNC.
The data gathered from all the new stations will help fire districts countywide respond to initial smoke and fire calls. This will allow fire officials to assign resources based on districts’ unique weather data and needs. Officials hope to incorporate data from the new stations into fire response measures before the next fire season begins in May or June.
“The initial response is incredibly important, because if you can stop a fire in its initial stages you have the best chance of keeping it from growing out of control,” Drugan said. ”No matter where a fire begins in Boulder County, it's going to receive the same response as anywhere else, no matter which district it's in.”
