Designed for fire weather: mobile tower faces its first major storm

March 10, 2026

On December 19 powerful, hurricane-force winds struck Boulder, CO with gusts over 100mph. The winds were accompanied by extremely dry air, which created a critical fire danger and resulted in power outages and school closures. It also prompted “particularly dangerous situation” warnings.

NOAA Research is building a system to better understand the processes that drive wildfires. A key component of the research is ARL’s rapid-deploy, mobile instrument towers that are intended to travel to areas with wildfires or where conditions are conducive to fire. The first tower was designed, built and set up at NOAA’s Marshall Test Bed last July.

Two men standing on a grassy area with a metal pole partially assembled between them.
John Kochendorfer (L) and Temple Lee (R) test set up of the mobile tower before it was sent to Colorado. Credit: Erica Massengill (NOAA/ORAU)
aerial view of a suburban neighborhood. Houses have been burned down to the ground and trees left standing are blackened.
Scorched homes in Louisville, Colorado after Marshall Fire burnt through. Credit: ARHIT, www.stock.adobe.com

The conditions of the storm were exactly what ARL’s rapid-deploy tower was designed to withstand and it did so with little to no damage. Scientists were pleased to see it continued collecting measurements while it had power. This event was just as strong or stronger than the conditions around the devastating Marshall Fire in December 2021, the most destructive fire in Colorado history.