Monsoon rains are on the horizon, experts say. Will they arrive soon enough to dampen fire risk?

““Just the way things have been going around here, it doesn’t take a lot of wind. Because the fuels are so dry, because of the drought, any fire will quickly get going on a day like that,” Schlatter said.

Fire weather on the Western Slope

Moisture was moving across the Western Slope on Tuesday and Wednesday, Gillian Felton, a NWS meteorologist in Grand Junction said. The Western Slope is still dry overall, but the moisture is helping to alleviate the critical fire conditions.

She is keeping an eye on wind gusts and dry conditions in the Four Corners area and high elevations in the south, where the Ferris and Gold Mountain fires are already burning.

“The forecast could change as we move through the week,” she said. “An increase in gusts could make fire conditions a little more widespread, especially because we’re expecting drier air to move in.”

Weekend temperatures in the Grand Junction area could peak around 105 degrees, she said.

The mix of dry storms and small doses of precipitation is a double-edged sword, the meteorologists said. The moisture will help but dry storms with lightning could spark more fires, especially since they will be followed by ”