All week we were watching the weather forecast, anxiously hoping that this time, perhaps, we really would get some moisture. After suffering through the driest March in Colorado history (traditionally the wettest month of the year), everyone has been nervously watching the bone dry landscape and wondering when the first really big fire was going to hit. We’ve had a couple of smallish ones already, and 120 Ft Collins residents are only now returning to their homes after the 9,158 acre Picnic Rock fire drove them out 6 days ago.
However this weekend, it was finally looking as though we were going to get some snow. Given my druthers, I would rather have the cold weather while I was in the office, with the sunny warm days reserved for the weekends; I’ve complained about this often enough before. But at this point, weekend or not, I was hoping for the biggest storm ol’ Ma Nature was willing to throw at us. A 3-foot dump, like we had around this time last year would have been ideal, but realistically, that wasn’t going to happen.
By Friday morning, the storm clouds were gathering and the atmosphere was tense and heavy. As the day wore on, things got steadily more oppressive but it wasn’t until around 6:30, when I was making my way home: that the heavens finally opened and the rain came down. The freeway was of course dry and greasy, so the standing water made the road slick and treacherous. C-470 is an accident black spot at the best of times, but tonight, everyone was taking it easy, inching along as the windshield wipers worked overtime. I can’t remember the last time I had mine on full speed, but that’s what they were doing tonight.
I had to stop at Safeway to pick up a few things for dinner, so I called Dear Wife from the parking lot. I was lightheartedly bemoaning my fate at the soaking I was about to get running from the car to the store, but her news depressed me far more. Our house, only 20 minutes away, was still bone dry. This couldn’t be. The town was being drenched with a major spring thunderstorm, while our neighborhood, in desperate need of rain, hadn’t received so much as a drop. Not good news.
As I’ve said before, Colorado has been in a state of drought for over a decade now. The first year we moved here, we had a couple of scares when major wildfires broke out way too close for comfort. Last winter was considerably wetter and as a result, we got lazy and didn’t address our fire mitigation responsibilities. In a wildfire situation, firefighters will, quite logically, assess the possibility of saving your property. If they deem this potential to be low they will, simply move on to another house which might have a better chance to be saved. Essentially, if you haven’t done a decent job of fire mitigation yourself, you can’t expect the firefighters to do it for you when the emergency happens.
Fire needs fuel to continue burning, so homeowners are advised to remove the contiguous sources adjacent to and near the home in order to create a pathway to the house. The next step is to remove any fuel sources, which may have accumulated on or around the house. Crowning fires, which spread through the treetops, are intense and fast, but ironically it is the little embers falling out of these fires that cause the most damage. Imagine a snowstorm, in which red-hot embers are falling instead of snowflakes. Any surface that can catch these and provide fuel for them can cause the home to catch fire. Gutters, which tend to be full of debris, horizontal surfaces such as windowsills, accumulated fuels under and around wood or flammable structures, or shrubbery growing against the home can all be potential fuel sources. Flowers and short grasses, unless watered frequently, can also be a hazard. Homeowners are also advised, not just to thin trees, but to remove them at least 30- 40 feet from the home to increase the chances of survivability
The previous owners used our property as a weekend cottage; and they didn’t visit much over the last few years. Years of neglect means the overgrown trees and ground debris would put our wooded acre well down any firefighter’s list of savable properties. Although we had a borrowed chain saw sitting in our shed most of last summer, we never used it, which means there’s a lot of work to be done this year if we want to be living indoors next winter. So, you’ll understand why I was disappointed we appeared to be missing out on the rain.
By the time I got home, there was evidence of a slight sprinkling, but not enough to do any real good. We needed a downpour. Frankly, even that would only scratch the surface of the problem; right now we need rainfall measured in feet, not fractions of an inch, but like I said, we’ll take whatever we can get. Fortunately, by the time we headed for bed, the precipitation Gods had finally decided to favor us and we were at last, receiving not rain, but fast falling, wet looking snow. This would do.
Waking on Saturday morning, it wasn’t quite the winter wonderland for which I’d been hoping. However, we did have oh, a good 2-inches or so of accumulated snow sitting on the front deck, with more falling in rather puny looking flakes. Most of us had given up any hope that we would see more snow this winter and as this was the first measurable moisture we’d had for almost a month, nobody was complaining.
It’s only when you’ve gone for weeks without moisture that you can appreciate just what a difference it makes to the landscape. Sure everything was wet and dripping, which under the slate gray sky could easily have been gloomy. But the air had an almost forgotten freshness to it that simply lifted the spirits. The colors were so much more vibrant and the landscape had that fresh washed, clean look to it. Signs of spring were everywhere; particularly now the dampness had brought a number of flowers out of hibernation. And yet, the snow on the ground, welcome though it was, still served to remind that winter ain’t over yet.
However this weekend, it was finally looking as though we were going to get some snow. Given my druthers, I would rather have the cold weather while I was in the office, with the sunny warm days reserved for the weekends; I’ve complained about this often enough before. But at this point, weekend or not, I was hoping for the biggest storm ol’ Ma Nature was willing to throw at us. A 3-foot dump, like we had around this time last year would have been ideal, but realistically, that wasn’t going to happen.
By Friday morning, the storm clouds were gathering and the atmosphere was tense and heavy. As the day wore on, things got steadily more oppressive but it wasn’t until around 6:30, when I was making my way home: that the heavens finally opened and the rain came down. The freeway was of course dry and greasy, so the standing water made the road slick and treacherous. C-470 is an accident black spot at the best of times, but tonight, everyone was taking it easy, inching along as the windshield wipers worked overtime. I can’t remember the last time I had mine on full speed, but that’s what they were doing tonight.
I had to stop at Safeway to pick up a few things for dinner, so I called Dear Wife from the parking lot. I was lightheartedly bemoaning my fate at the soaking I was about to get running from the car to the store, but her news depressed me far more. Our house, only 20 minutes away, was still bone dry. This couldn’t be. The town was being drenched with a major spring thunderstorm, while our neighborhood, in desperate need of rain, hadn’t received so much as a drop. Not good news.
As I’ve said before, Colorado has been in a state of drought for over a decade now. The first year we moved here, we had a couple of scares when major wildfires broke out way too close for comfort. Last winter was considerably wetter and as a result, we got lazy and didn’t address our fire mitigation responsibilities. In a wildfire situation, firefighters will, quite logically, assess the possibility of saving your property. If they deem this potential to be low they will, simply move on to another house which might have a better chance to be saved. Essentially, if you haven’t done a decent job of fire mitigation yourself, you can’t expect the firefighters to do it for you when the emergency happens.
Fire needs fuel to continue burning, so homeowners are advised to remove the contiguous sources adjacent to and near the home in order to create a pathway to the house. The next step is to remove any fuel sources, which may have accumulated on or around the house. Crowning fires, which spread through the treetops, are intense and fast, but ironically it is the little embers falling out of these fires that cause the most damage. Imagine a snowstorm, in which red-hot embers are falling instead of snowflakes. Any surface that can catch these and provide fuel for them can cause the home to catch fire. Gutters, which tend to be full of debris, horizontal surfaces such as windowsills, accumulated fuels under and around wood or flammable structures, or shrubbery growing against the home can all be potential fuel sources. Flowers and short grasses, unless watered frequently, can also be a hazard. Homeowners are also advised, not just to thin trees, but to remove them at least 30- 40 feet from the home to increase the chances of survivability
The previous owners used our property as a weekend cottage; and they didn’t visit much over the last few years. Years of neglect means the overgrown trees and ground debris would put our wooded acre well down any firefighter’s list of savable properties. Although we had a borrowed chain saw sitting in our shed most of last summer, we never used it, which means there’s a lot of work to be done this year if we want to be living indoors next winter. So, you’ll understand why I was disappointed we appeared to be missing out on the rain.
By the time I got home, there was evidence of a slight sprinkling, but not enough to do any real good. We needed a downpour. Frankly, even that would only scratch the surface of the problem; right now we need rainfall measured in feet, not fractions of an inch, but like I said, we’ll take whatever we can get. Fortunately, by the time we headed for bed, the precipitation Gods had finally decided to favor us and we were at last, receiving not rain, but fast falling, wet looking snow. This would do.
Waking on Saturday morning, it wasn’t quite the winter wonderland for which I’d been hoping. However, we did have oh, a good 2-inches or so of accumulated snow sitting on the front deck, with more falling in rather puny looking flakes. Most of us had given up any hope that we would see more snow this winter and as this was the first measurable moisture we’d had for almost a month, nobody was complaining.
It’s only when you’ve gone for weeks without moisture that you can appreciate just what a difference it makes to the landscape. Sure everything was wet and dripping, which under the slate gray sky could easily have been gloomy. But the air had an almost forgotten freshness to it that simply lifted the spirits. The colors were so much more vibrant and the landscape had that fresh washed, clean look to it. Signs of spring were everywhere; particularly now the dampness had brought a number of flowers out of hibernation. And yet, the snow on the ground, welcome though it was, still served to remind that winter ain’t over yet.
