JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
After a month of runaway wildfires, summer monsoon rains are now arriving in the Mountain West. Those storms are often a mixed blessing. The benefits can be offset by dry lightning that starts new fires and erratic winds that stoke the flames. And this year, monsoons are struggling to make up for a dry winter. Sam Brasch of Colorado Public Radio reports.
SAM BRASCH, BYLINE: Colorado's fire season really kicked off at the end of June, and there's still about a dozen big wildfires burning here. That includes the Willow Fire in the state's Central Mountains. On a recent overcast morning, a resupply helicopter took off from a local airport.
(SOUNDBITE OF HELICOPTER FLYING OVERHEAD)
BRASCH: Inside is hot breakfast for a backcountry firefighting crew. A month ago, authorities here nearly had to evacuate Leadville, a historic mining town nearby. Now there are only a few wisps of smoke in the distance. Eddie Garcia, spokesperson for the federal fire management team, says that's thanks to the low cloud cover.
EDDIE GARCIA: Like, you know, like those old-school Weber grills, right? So when you have that lid on there, it's more controlled, right? When you open it up, the fire goes up.
BRASCH: The morning clouds also hint at afternoon rain, driven by the North American monsoon. The weather pattern delivers summertime moisture to the southwestern U.S. It's arrival this year is helping firefighters strengthen containment lines and snuff out hot spots, but some storms are better than others.
JOE GOUDSWARD: What we would like to see is several hours of light precipitation.
BRASCH: Joe Goudsward is a National Weather Service meteorologist on the Willow Fire. In a school taken over by the fire team, he watches a laptop for incoming storms. His forecasts detail potential benefits and hazards - lightning, erratic winds or the risk of too much rain.
GOUDSWARD: A flash flood warning for a burn scar is not your typical flash flood warning. It only takes maybe a quarter to a half an inch of rain for that land to get moving 'cause you've lost all the vegetation.
BRASCH: Flood risk now looms over the Mountain West due to the monsoon. Burn scars lack plants to slow runoff, and charred soils can repel water. And scientists say a rapid shift from drought to wet weather can actually make floods more likely because some types of dry ground struggle to absorb rain. In Colorado, mud slides have closed highways, interstates and even one local theater. In Utah, a recent flood killed a family of five, another triggered evacuations and contaminated a local water system. But here's what's frustrating. Despite the flooding, Goudsward expects blazes like the Willow Fire will keep burning.
GOUDSWARD: To be honest, this thing is not going to go out till it snows. You are going to see puffs of smoke on this thing probably until the snow flies.
BRASCH: That's largely because vegetation remains parched from the lack of snow last winter. Rain can wet smaller twigs and grasses, but it's just not enough to help with bigger trees and logs that can burn for days. That's according to Jonathan Coop, a fire scientist at Western Colorado University.
JONATHAN COOP: Right now, those fields are still dry, and they take a long time to absorb water. They'll take a lot of water before they get to the point where the fire can't burn in them anymore.
BRASCH: That's why many in Leadville expect the nearby Willow Fire to hang around for months. Shannon Vitale manages the Tennessee Pass Cafe in town. With the blaze so close, she understands why tourism is down this summer.
SHANNON VITALE: Some days it's awful with the smell, and you worry about the wind shifting and it coming this way again. But we have to - we have to deal with it.
BRASCH: For Vitale, dealing with it means she'll keep offering firefighters free meals and hope visitors learn to hike or fish with a fire smoldering nearby.
For NPR News, I'm Sam Brasch in Leadville, Colorado.
(SOUNDBITE OF MORUF AND SZA SONG, "PT CRUISER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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