As Colorado faces historically bad snowpack, a new study links low snow with more severe wildfires that damage forests

As Colorado faces historically bad snowpack, a new study links low snow with more severe wildfires that damage forests

A new study out of Western Colorado University has implications for the wildfire season ahead as nearly the entire West faces record-low snowpack conditions. The paper, published last month in the peer-reviewed journal “Environmental Research Letters,” found that not only is an early-snow melt associated with earlier fire seasons and a more acreage being burned, it’s also linked to more severe wildfires. “When we have a low-snow winter, those hi…