ValpoVike

Oh sure, blame it on the baby! Never mind that we had issues with dryness before she was even born... I literally couldn't resist, but in all seriousness this has been a long term issue.

We had intense winds up here in Glen Haven last night. On my home weather station I clocked 99mph at 8:40pm, and lost power shortly after. Some fence damage, and many trees down in the neighborhood especially in the CP burn areas.

I did ok up here with a bit over 4". I was expecting 3-6. Definitely not a big snowfall, but I'll take anything.

Yesterday was crazy dry. My home station dipped to 4% as well.

Only about 1" up here in Glen Haven. We certainly needed a lot more. I woke up around 2am Monday morning and noticed out my window a flame on a ridge above the North Fork trail at the edge of the CP fire. Probably an isolated tree torching, but this fire isn't out yet and the dry pattern setting up over the next two weeks is of concern. Crazy how this thing has survived two large snow events.

We can hope. I have never wished for winter as hard as I do now, and I love snow so the bar was already set pretty high

Loveland should be ok, RH's there this morning have recovered to 90%+, winds should be much lighter, and the fire front is in grasses. I do think that parts of west Loveland dodged a bullet yesterday. As for our neighborhood, it has burned thru about 30% of the neighborhood and the VFD along with the IC crews are still battling. Fortunately since yesterday morning it appears to be active and not extreme. Reduced wind speed should allow aviation on it today which will help a ton. My home is furthest from the Miller Fork drainage, so I appear to be in good shape. I personally dodged a big giant bullet (so far), but others not so lucky.

Well, that damn fire finally got us today. My neighborhood, The Retreat, was ground zero for today's fire. This thing is an unbelievable monster. Just this morning the Sheriff office let me thru at sunrise to winterize my home since they had cut power. I took this photo from my deck at 8am before I left. At the time, the fire was still smoldering which you can see. Then at noon it went extreme and tore down the Miller Fork drainage. The other image is from Lily Lake looking over Estes Park back towards the Glen Haven area.

I sure hope not. This is crazy. Today was the southeast side of Cameron's turn to explode. It is currently at the western edge of the CSU Mountain Campus. The winds for Sunday early a.m. thru afternoon are of concern.

I feel exactly the same as you do about that storm in September. It was a freak snowstorm and just at the right time. I have a trailer full of family photos and such parked in a friends garage in Estes, and it feels like it has been going on forever. On the bright side, I no longer care much about Covid-19.

Crazy photo taken by the RMNP fire officer from yesterday of two pyrocumulus clouds from the Cameron Peak fire with what appears to be a lenticular cloud forming above.

Actually it is from two fires, Cameron Peak Fire in Northern Colorado and Mullins Fire just across into Wyoming. Edit: I forgot about the fire near Steamboat...make that 3 fires.

Looking quite dicey for Red Feather Lakes now with pyrocumulus to their immediate SW. So sad to see. Here is a webcam link of live video feed from RFL:

Yeah, this fire does keep going and going. I think we are at 6 weeks today on this fire. Many folks around Glen Haven (and I suspect elsewhere in Larimer) have something like PTSD due to the constant threat of this thing, myself included. With all of the beetle kill, we expected that this would happen one day. I am definitely looking forward to tracking snowstorms...

The next 48 hours look to be really concerning for Red Feather Lakes. The northern portion of the fire has become quite active, and with the strong WSW winds tomorrow and Saturday it could be pretty bad. There are a lot of homes and cabins in that area.

We have been in the voluntary evac zone along CR43 from the Cameron Peak fire since Labor Day. Thankfully the snow really put the hurt on it, but it got pretty close that Monday and we got out. It was hairy for a while and we wondered which would get here first, snow or the fire. We came back in the snow the following day. I spent all of that day closing the pool so that pipes and pumps wouldn't freeze...what a bizarre two days that was. It has been tranquil up here ever since, gentle winds with temps in the 70s and nice cool nights.

It was choking smoke all day here, with an eerie reddish twilight look...or one of the levels of the underworld. A lot of people are waiting for snow and cold up here.

Unfortunately, the fire made a very impressive run yesterday and overnight. An inversion set up overnight and kept temps in the 70's at higher elevations, so while the fire laid down somewhat apparently it was still fairly active overnight. The end result was an ~8 mile run to the east near Crown Point pushing into Pingree Park, and today will be very similar. They had set up containment lines along Crown Point road, but the fire apparently jumped them with impunity. On the south side, the fire pushed into RMNP and Comanche Peak Wilderness towards Comanche Peak and Mummy Mountain. Expect a lot more ash today, and the snow cannot come quickly enough. Here is a photo taken from my deck around 4:30pm yesterday/Saturday when the skies turned black.

What are your thoughts for western Larimer, over the Cameron Peak fire? The models are crazy and not sure what to think.

Congrats!

September 3, 1961 I believe. Around 4".

Yeah...the Euro and GFS are absolutely dumping on the Front Range. Up here, between 14" and 16" depending on which model. We really need the moisture and snow would be the best thing ever for the Cameron Peak Fire which shows nearly 20" falling on it. Even cutting these amounts in half would be shocking for early September, and equally welcome. Crazy, but let's wait and see.

September is going to get off to a crazy start. My point and click forecast goes from 86 on Sunday to legit winter conditions starting Monday night: Sunday Sunny, with a high near 86. Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 57. Labor Day Sunny, with a high near 77. Monday Night Rain likely before 3am, then rain and snow likely between 3am and 5am, then snow likely after 5am. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Tuesday Snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Tuesday Night A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. Wednesday A chance of rain and snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Partly sunny, with a high near 49.

Next week is going to suck with the westerly flow. We will all be likely be eating smoke for dinner along the north front range. Yesterday the winds up here were light, RH was up a tad, and temps in the 70's along the Cameron Peak fire. I think this made it much less prolific in terms of smoke generation.

I have been watching very closely as I live off CO43 NE of Glen Haven. Unfortunately I think this burns until snow. Too much beetle kill and very rugged terrain. They are going to let it burn on the ESE side and make a stand at Pingree Road near CSU'S mountain campus. That is uncomfortably close.