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The year-round threat of wildfire in Colorado is starting to return after a reprieve during an unusually wet June.

Hot and dry conditions in July have increased the risk for year-round fires despite higher-than-usual rainfall in the spring.

After massive downpours along Colorado's Front Range during an exceptionally wet June softened into shorter and lighter rainfall, daily high temperatures creeped into the mid-90s and moderately dry conditions returned across the southwest portions of Colorado.

"In June, we had an anomalously wet month. Compared to that, we've been significantly drier (in July)," Klint Skelly, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Pueblo, said Friday.

On Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported dryness increased in Colorado for the second week in a row, following two noteworthy weeks where there was no abnormal dryness in any county — the first time since 2019.

The agency's mapping shows about 24% of the state, primarily in Colorado's southwest corner, is abnormally dry. About 1.8% of the state, in portions of Costilla, Alamosa, Conejos and Rio Grande counties, is considered to be in the first stage of drought.

In the past week, several smaller fires have been reported in the Pikes Peak region, including west of Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, northwest of Monument in El Paso County and west of Divide in Teller County. The Lowline wildfire burning farther west in Gunnison County, probably sparked by lightning Wednesday, had burned 803 acres and was zero percent contained as of 2:40 p.m. Friday, the Gunnison Regional 911 Center said on Facebook.

Hotter days, lower levels of humidity and shorter, less uniform bouts of precipitation have begun to dry out vegetation after June downpours helped flora grow.

"These factors make fires rapidly spread," said Evan Direnzo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.

When wildfires strike, dry plants, underbrush and grasses can fuel them, said Ashley Whitworth, Colorado Springs Fire Department's wildfire mitigation program coordinator.

"All these nice, tall green grasses and (underbrush) we have that are growing up — they're still green, but they're starting to dry out. That does pose a bigger risk in July now versus June," she said.

The delay of Colorado's monsoon season that usually develops in early July also means spottier patterns of rainfall, Skelly said. As of Friday, the Pikes Peak region was starting to see its first signs of monsoon — a seasonal shift in winds that can bring storms or rainfall — which can "be really spotty where it develops," he said.

"One portion of El Paso County can get rain where, say for example, the southern portion of El Paso County won't get rain. (Vegetation is) growing and rapidly drying if they're not getting thunderstorms throughout the day."

To determine moisture levels in Colorado Springs, Whitworth and her mitigation team test samples of vegetation like Gambel oak, ponderosa pine, grasses, leaves and needles taken from the north and south sides of town, she said. The team burns the samples in a special oven for 24 hours to determine the percentage of moisture left in the materials. The lower the percentage of moisture, the higher the danger is that a fire could move rapidly if it struck.

"That translates to us: What would that fire behavior be in that specific fuel type if we had a fire?" Whitworth said.

Colorado Springs Fire Department also conducts regular fire mitigation around the city, typically treating certain areas every three to five years, depending on moisture levels. Thanks to high levels of precipitation last month, officials are seeing "a tremendous amount of regeneration" of fire fuels, Whitworth said.

The Fire Department tracks its wildfire mitigation areas and will reassess fuel growth and fire danger, she said. They plan to prioritize recent mitigation efforts near Austin Bluffs Open Space and The Broadmoor, she said.

"What we don't want to do is not retreat areas and then it's kind of back to square one," she said. "That's not our intent. It's a lot easier to retreat and remitigate areas that have already been mitigated."

Residents can help prevent wildfires by being aware of day-to-day fire danger levels and taking care not to use machinery that can spark and ignite dry fuels, for example, she said. Residents should also take caution when using fire pits or putting out cigarettes.

Colorado Springs residents can also sign up for PeakAlerts to be notified about emergencies in their area, like a wildfire. Register online at coswildfireready.org/notifications.

Fire danger could lessen again, with a cool, wet fall predicted. But anything can still happen, Skelly said.

"It definitely is too early to say, because weather is weather, and weather will change based on whatever atmospheric conditions are there," he said.

Four residents have been displaced following a fire that broke out late Tuesday at a Colorado Springs apartment complex, according to the Colo…

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