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Meteorologists Embedded With Firefighters; Both Hope For Rain

By Matt Kroschel

JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Inside a yurt set up inside the Jackson County fairgrounds arena, meteorologist Shawn Jacobs works to provide firefighters with life-saving forecast information.

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(credit: CBS)

The National Weather Service has an 80-member team embedded in wildfire command posts across the country.

Their efforts allow incident commanders to know what to expect from Mother Nature. It's real-time information that is used to make tough calls about how they will fight fires.

Currently, the Ryan Fire, burning tens of thousands of acres northwest of Walden along the Colorado-Wyoming state line, and the Silver Creek Fire, northwest of Kremmling, are being managed by a national team, including meteorologists like Jacobs.

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Shawn Jacobs (credit: CBS)

"We are updating the crews on the ground around the clock," Jacobs said.

This fire season has been extremely long and continues despite some much needed moisture this week.

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(credit: CBS)

"We need a couple of inches of snow or an inch or rain over a few days to really put these fires to bed for good," Jacobs added.

Wildfire Resources

- Visit CBSDenver.com's Colorado Wildfire section.

Wildfire Photo Galleries

- See images from the most destructive wildfires (Black Forest, Waldo Canyon, High Park and Fourmile), the deadliest (Storm King) and largest wildfire (Hayman) in Colorado history.

Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.

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