BOULDER COUNTY — The Marshall fire may have destroyed as many as 1,000 homes east of Boulder, authorities said Friday as improving weather and an incoming snowstorm eliminated the risk of Colorado’s most destructive fire getting even worse. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said there have been no fatalities reported and that no people are […]
National Weather Service
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
Yes, it hasn’t snowed yet in Denver. But it’s Colorado’s meager snowpack that should worry you.
Snowflakes began falling in Denver on Dec. 1, 1913, and didn’t stop for four days, leaving the city blanketed under 45 inches of snow. Some mountain towns saw even more snowfall, with 86 inches recorded in Georgetown, 53 in Estes Park and about 44 in Boulder. The anniversary of Denver’s biggest blizzard comes amid a […]
Posted inNews
From sky to bedrock, researchers near Crested Butte are resetting what we know about water in the West
CRESTED BUTTE – Eight white shipping containers, instruments spouting from the tops of some and a generator humming away in another, sit in the East River valley, on the outskirts of this mountain town, pulling data out of the air. The containers, a “mobile atmospheric observatory,” will gather bits of information over the next two […]
Posted inNews
Heavy smoke from West Coast wildfires is expected to blanket Colorado this weekend
Heavy smoke from wildfires in California and Oregon is expected to blow from northwestern Colorado across much of the state Friday afternoon and Saturday, causing hazy conditions and one of the heaviest fine particulate matter concentrations of the year, according to an advisory from the state’s health department and the National Weather Service. Residents sensitive […]
Posted inHousing, News, Transportation, Wildfire
Second mudslide from Grizzly Creek burn scar closes I-70 through Glenwood Canyon
Editor’s Note: Interstate 70 has since re-opened. Find the latest story here. A second weekend mudslide flowing from the Grizzly Creek burn scar closed Interstate 70 in both directions through Glenwood Canyon on Sunday. The highway was closed in both directions between the West Rifle and Dotsero exits after muddy debris covered an area in […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water, Wildfire
Northwest Colorado under “extremely critical” fire warning for first time in 15 years as Western Slope drought worsens
As drought conditions worsened on the Western Slope, the National Weather Service has issued its first “extremely critical” fire danger warning in 15 years for northwest Colorado. The warning, in effect through midnight, covers parts of Moffat and Rio Blanco counties that also are in a state of “exceptional drought,” according to the weekly U.S. […]
Posted inArts, Climate, Coloradans, Environment, News, Outdoors
Pueblo’s Arkansas River levee is a Colorado gem. It’s also a reminder of the state’s deadliest disaster.
As Pueblo recently dedicated its new Arkansas River levee and recreational amenities, it also commemorated its greatest tragedy: a flood that decimated its city center and killed at least 1,000 people. What Pueblo is today is inextricably tied to that June 1921 disaster, as over the past century the community transformed the river that nearly […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Wildfire
Colorado’s Arapaho and Roosevelt forests will reopen Tuesday after 19-day closure due to wildfire threat
After almost three weeks of closure, Coloradans will be able to access two of the state’s most popular national forests once again. Parts of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, shut down last month because of wildfire threats, will reopen to the public as of 6 a.m. Tuesday. The forests overlap Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek, […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Rafting season is ready to launch, but coronavirus worries are running high in Colorado
By Dean Krakel, Fresh Water News With warming temperatures in Colorado’s mountains and spring runoff in full swing, the whitewater boating season should be off to a roaring start. But Colorado’s stringent COVID-19 travel and recreation restrictions are forcing commercial rafting companies to create social distance on unruly rivers and face the potential for smaller […]
Posted inColoradans, Energy, News
An army of Xcel workers — pilot light by pilot light — work to reheat a tiny San Luis Valley town
DEL NORTE – A major equipment failure on a natural gas line early Saturday morning left about 800 households without heat as a major snowstorm began to hammer the San Luis Valley. The outage lasted about 18 hours, ended by an army of 170 Xcel Energy emergency workers from across Colorado who descended on the […]