Smoke from Western Slope wildfire will be visible along the Front Range

UPDATE: Garfield County residents on alert as Spring Creek Fire continues to burn

Elevated smoke from the Spring Creek Fire near Parachute in Garfield County will stream toward Denver and the Front Range by Tuesday afternoon.

The fire had spread to around 3,000 acres on Monday afternoon and had maintained that size through the night. Southwest winds up to 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph combined with very warm temperatures and relative humidity under 15% will create high fire danger again on Tuesday. Another Red Flag Warning has been issued from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Conditions will make fighting the current fire a challenge and any new fires could spread rapidly.

Denver and the Front Range will also experience warm, windy, and dry conditions on Tuesday but the ground is much less dry along the urban corridor compared to the Western Slope where recent precipitation has been near normal. For example, Grand Junction has received 4.31 inches of precipitation so far in 2023 while Denver is more than 7 inches above normal with 13.67 inches since the first of the year.

While the threat of a wildfire starting along the Front Range is low on Tuesday, smoke from the Spring Creek Fire will be visible especially late in the day on Tuesday. Upper level winds will steer the smoke plume initially into the Fort Collins, Loveland, and Longmont area by early Tuesday afternoon. Then the plume should move south toward Denver. Since the smoke will be mostly elevated, it should be easy to see the smoke but most areas will not smell it and significant health impacts are not expected.

Additional concerns about wildfires will continue on the Western Slope on Wednesday and possibly through the end of the week with very little rain expected in that part of the state through at least the Fourth of July. Meanwhile thunderstorms will make a return to the metro area Thursday afternoon and there is a good chance for afternoon thunderstorms on Friday.