DENVER (AP) -- Colorado wildland firefighters are preparing to forecast this summer's fire season, and things could look very different on the eastern plains than in the mountains.
Gov. John Hickenlooper and the head of the Division of Fire Prevention and Control are scheduled to discuss the outlook Friday.
Most of the plains have been in a drought or near-drought conditions since mid-October. Last month, a wildfire in northeastern Colorado blackened 50 square miles and killed 200 cattle.
But the mountains received heavy winter snowfall after a slow start. Most of the high country has average or above-average snowpack.
The National Interagency Fire Center's most recent outlook , issued April 1, predicted below-normal potential for significant wildfires in the Colorado mountains and normal potential for the rest of the state in May and June.
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