Colorado Investing In New Wildfire Prediction System
DENVER (AP) - Colorado will invest in a new technology to predict wildfire behavior.
Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill Wednesday to spend about $1.2 million over the next couple of years testing new technology designed to predict wildfires.
The modeling system has been developed over several years by the Boulder-based University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, known as UCAR. The system uses forecasts and radar and aircraft observations of the weather and dozens of other variables to predict what's going to happen.
Researchers want to test the modeling system for flood prediction, too. But lawmakers removed that portion of the bill to lower the price tag.
LINK: House Bill 1129
Wildfire Resources
- Visit CBSDenver.com's Living With Wildfire section.
Wildfire Photo Galleries
- See images from the most destructive wildfires (Black Forest, Waldo Canyon, High Park and Fourmile) and largest wildfire (Hayman) in Colorado history.