BOULDER COUNTY, Colo — If only it had snowed two days earlier.
The day after last year's Marshall Fire, the area scarred by Colorado's most destructive wildfire on record saw 4 to 6 inches of fresh snow, putting out the fire's last hot spots.
But in the lead-up to the fire, the Front Range saw a historically dry and hot stretch that culminated in a Dec. 30 windstorm that quickly fanned the destructive flames.
The final six months of 2021 were the driest and warmest for the Denver area on record, which goes back to the late 1800s. Only 1.20 inches of rain and snow fell over those six months combined, based on data from Denver International Airport (which is Denver's official climate station). That was, by far, the driest final six months of a year on record in Denver.
The nearest reliable weather station to the Marshall Fire, a weather sensor on the southeast side of Boulder, recorded less than a quarter-inch of total rain and snow in the two months before the fire. It saw just 1.52 inches of total rain and snow in the five months leading up to the fire.
Normally, you would see about 7 inches of rain and snow equivalent in the area over those five months. The 1.52-inch tally represents one of the driest stretches for the Boulder area on record as well. Boulder's weather records go back to the early 1900s.
On top of the record drought, temperatures sizzled throughout the final six months of 2021. It was the warmest final six months of a year on record in Denver, and for most of Colorado, as well.
Most of the Denver area didn't see measurable snowfall until December, marking the latest first measurable snowfall on record for much of the Front Range. It also meant the first snow-less autumn on record for the Denver area.
The warm, dry end to the year culminated in the ground essentially being a tinder box last December on the eve of the Marshall Fire.
Even with that in mind, if it had snowed just two days earlier, it likely would've saved the fire's most devastating consequences.
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