June 24, 2022 by John Clyne

Visualizations of the recent, devastating Marshall fire

The most destructive wildfire in Colorado history was ignited on December 30, 2021 and spread quickly to neighborhoods in Superior and Louisville, driven by drought parched vegetation and winds gusting over 100 miles per hour. Over a thousand homes were lost and thousands of people were evacuated. Numerical models of wildfires developed by NCAR are some of the most sophisticated in the world, and are used by researchers and forecasters to help analyze, interpret, and predict the impact of wildfires on weather, air quality, and the economy. A recent simulation with NCAR’s Coupled Atmosphere-Wildland Fire Environment (CAWFE) model attempts to recreate the devastating events of the day and was visualized by the ViSR team here.