Meteorologist Sees Bad Fire Season Easing Through Late June
A Cheyenne-based meteorologist says what has started out as a bad fire season so far, should ease over the next couple of weeks with cooler, wetter weather prevailing.
Don Day Jr., founder, and owner of Dayweather Inc. in Cheyenne said Friday, the season has gotten off to a bad start, notably with the Badger Creek Fire, which at last report had consumed around 20,000 acres in southern Wyoming.
Day notes the area had a relatively dry winter, followed by hot, dry spring weather over the past few weeks. He says the significant rainfall the area received over the past weekend represents a break from that pattern, and even though the area probably won't continue to see that kind of downpour over the next few days, it does mark the start of what should be cooler, wetter weather through the rest of this month.
He said that should tamp down the fire danger going into early July, at least. The change in the weather has already played a significant role in helping firefighters battling the Badger Creek Fire.
Officials on Monday morning were saying the blaze was about 85 percent contained, with two inches of rain on Saturday and another half inch on Sunday giving firefighters battling the blaze a major boost.