Light winds, higher humidity help tame Colorado Fire

Lighter winds and an increase in humidity levels on Monday could spell good news for firefighters battling the Colorado Fire near the Big Sur coast after strong, offshore winds caused a blaze that burned around 700 acres in two days and resulted in hundreds of people being evacuated from their homes.

The fire was 35% contained as of Monday morning, according to CalFire. Five hundred people remained under evacuation orders.

The Colorado Fire started shortly after 5 p.m. Friday near Palo Colorado Road and canyon in Big Sur during low humidity and peak, offshore winds that also toppled trees and knocked out power for tens of thousands of people in the East Bay. The Monterey County blaze burned along Long Ridge toward the Bixby Bridge but the iconic 1930s arches remained unscathed.

A power outage left about 1,110 customers without power from Friday evening through about midday Sunday.

The fire-related outages impacted customers in Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey.

Firefighters were still working to target hot spots and control the blaze as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. Highway 1 remained closed from Garrapata Creek to Point Sur. The flames damaged one yurt and threatened hundreds of structures on Sunday.

Calmer winds and gradually recovering humidity levels could be beneficial for battling the blaze on Monday, according to National Weather Service forecaster David King. Fog in the North Bay valleys will also begin to spread across the Bay Area, leading to the development of a marine layer along the Big Sur coastline that was previously suppressed by high pressure.

“All in all, it’s a slow, steady improvement of conditions, which will definitely help the firefight,” King said.

Humidity levels will range in the mid 30s on Monday and will recover up to the upper 50s later on Monday

night.

CalFire spokesperson Cecile Juliette said there was an “active fire” and offshore winds posed a concern overnight but that weather conditions were more “favorable” on Monday.

Despite the onslaught of rain at the start of the water year, which began on Oct. 1, and a relatively wetter year compared to previous ones, California is still mired in ongoing, longterm drought. There also hasn’t been measurable rain in January, allowing the chaparral on the mountainsides of Big Sur to dry out and be more susceptible to catching fire.

“Anecdotally, it seems as though the long-term drought is acting like a chronic illness where even recent rains and cold winter isn’t helping to keep fires from developing,” according to a National Weather Service report.

Although the bulk of wildfire season is concentrated in the late summer as well as in September and October, climate change has made long-term drought and year-round wildfires more common in the West.

“October was incredibly wet, November wasn’t too bad and January has gone back to a quiet month for rain and so that’s where it leads to it trending drier recently,” King said. “Even though we got all that rain upfront, it still made for conditions that were dry enough and when you get these offshore winds bringing in drier air, it’s going to decrease relative humidity and lead to a fire.”

There is a slight chance for precipitation at the end of the week in the Bay Area, but it won’t be too much in terms of accumulation and will be mostly focused on the North Bay instead of the Monterey area, according to King.

“We’ll take any precipitation we can get,” he said. “There’s still time for the forecast to be adjusted.”