Needles of many pine trees around Palmer Lake are turning brown and dying from the tips inward due to heat/water stress. Scrub oak is dropping dry, faded green leaves, or turning brown on the branch. I would say 90% of the oak has dead branches, 50% of it is at least 30% dead, 25% is half-dead, and maybe 5-10% is solely standing dead wood now. Yesterday, in the Rampart Range W of Palmer Lake, I observed frequent trees that had turned all of their needles bright orange, top to bottom, with lots of dead branches and bone-dry wood areawide. I would say the situation very dangerous for rapid fire spread. Ground vegetation is also the most sparse that I've ever seen, and maybe 30% of evergreen ground vegetation is orange/red needles or bare dead wood.

This past winter was one of the most extreme weather events I have ever lived through here. It was like winter never came. There was no snowpack; areas that always have snow even in the driest times were totally barren. Based on data from the Palmer Lake COOP station, it was the least snowy and warmest winter on record. It really was extraordinary to live through. But then, amazingly, it was immediately followed by the driest June-August 10th periods on record (Palmer Lake COOP). This combination has far exceeded the worst water/heat stress that any living thing has experienced here in its life, and that is on full display right now. The progression vegetation death this summer is really sad. Trees that may well be 100 years old look like they may die completely just from this year alone.

Due to the extreme nature of what I've observed, I spent many hours looking at historical weather records from stations in/around the Palmer Divide/Rampart Range (to verify/fill in gaps in Palmer Lake/Monument 2WSW COOP data), and I can say with 100% confidence that this last winter was the hottest and least snowy since 1893, and 99% confidence (I'm almost certain) that this summer has been the driest since 1893 as well (and could be the hottest, but I can't say that for sure). Photos from Palmer Lake.