The Consequences of Drought: Wildfires | WeatherBug
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The Consequences of Drought: Wildfires

June 22, 2022
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Alyssa Robinette
Droughts are the second-most costly weather events after hurricanes. They can have a wide range of impacts, with one of the most significant ones being wildfires.

Drought is a deficiency in precipitation over an extended period. It is a part of normal climate variability in many areas. Drought can develop quickly and last only for a matter of weeks, but more commonly drought can persist for months or years. It can also be exacerbated by extreme heat and/or wind.

The lack of adequate precipitation, either rain or snow, can lead to reduced soil moisture or groundwater, diminished streamflow, crop damage, dried out forests and a general water shortage. This sets the stage for one of the biggest impacts from drought: wildfires. With dried out soil, trees and crops/plants, one spark can lead to destructive and deadly consequences.

Let’s consider the drought of 2012 in Colorado. At the beginning of 2012, the U.S. Drought Monitor had declared about 50-percent of Colorado in a drought. Conditions gradually deteriorated across the state as winter snow accumulation in all of Colorado’s mountainous trended below average. Then, temperatures were consistently above average while precipitation was below average across the rest of the state starting late winter and through the spring. Snowpack melted much earlier than usual, and streamflow response was limited. As a result, 100% of the state was classified in a drought by the end of May 2012.

Temperatures continued to soar in June of 2012, especially over the eastern portions of the state. Temperatures exceeded 100 degrees on many occasions and Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo., both set daily and all-time records. As a matter of fact, the all-time state record high temperature of 114 degrees was also matched in Las Animas. With drought conditions and unseasonably hot temperatures, conditions were prime for wildfire development during Summer 2012.

There were 4,167 fires during the summer of 2012 in Colorado, with 14 fires being especially catastrophic. These structures killed six civilians, burned more than 384,803 acres and cause at least $538 million in property losses.

The Waldo Canyon Fire, which started on June 23, 2012, become the most destructive fire in Colorado state history at the time. It started as a human-caused brush fire just west of Colorado Springs. Dry terrain, hot temperatures and steep topography made it very difficult for firefighters to manage the fire.

On June 26th, the area experienced 65-mph wind gusts, which allowed the fire to spread towards Colorado Springs and other surrounding cities. Embers were carried by the wind up to a quarter mile away and caused multiple small spot fires of brush and low vegetation. Once the fire crossed into neighborhoods, the fire spread house to house.

Within the time span of 12 hours, 346 homes in western Colorado Springs had burned and hundreds more suffered damage from fire and smoke. More than 35,000 people had been evacuated, which included parts of the Air Force Academy. Two people also lost their lives. The fire was fully contained on July 5th.

2012 to 2013 were evidence that drought can span over many years. Colorado Springs had another wildfire, this time on the northeast side of town, that came to be known as the Black Forest Fire. It surpassed the Waldo Canyon Fire as the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, destroying at least 509 homes. It remained the most destructive wildfire in state history until 2021 when the Marshall Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County.
 

Sources: Weather.gov, National Geographic, Colostate.edu, The Denver Post, Wikipedia
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Image: ​A T-38 Thunderbird on static display is surrounded by a rapidly spreading smoke cloud at the U.S. Air Force Academy's airfield in Colorado Springs, Colo. June 26, 2012. (Michael Kaplan, Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)