Over 300,000 power outages in Colorado as hurricane-force wind gusts fuel increased fire dangers in Rockies
High winds knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers across Colorado, including parts of the Denver and Boulder areas. More than 300,000 power outages were reported in Colorado early Sunday morning. However, the number of outages gradually dropped throughout the morning as crews quickly worked to restore electrical service.
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High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories are posted across central and southern portions of the Rockies and Plains, where winds could gust upwards of 60-80 mph through Sunday, especially over the higher elevations.
DENVER – The threat of wind gusts to 100 mph and low humidity has triggered National Weather Service offices from the Desert Southwest to the Rockies and Plains to issue a variety of weather alerts warning of the potential for damaging winds and fast-moving fires.
The FOX Forecast Center said a strong storm system moving through the Rockies and Plains created a significant pressure gradient off the mountains, which created the high winds that began Saturday and were expected to continue through Sunday.
More than 5 million people, including residents of Denver and Boulder in Colorado, were placed under a High Wind Warning, with winds that were forecast to reach upwards of 60-80 mph through Sunday afternoon.
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Computer forecast models showed residents in the foothills faced the potential of seeing winds clocked at 90 or even 100 mph.
"Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Scattered power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles. Blowing dust will reduce visibility to less than a quarter-mile in places," the NWS office in Boulder warned in its High Wind Warning for the Denver metro area.
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Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado, which sits in the Front Range northwest of Denver, reported a peak wind gust of 96 mph. Farther north, near the Colorado-Wyoming border, Buckeye, Colorado, recorded a 93-mph wind gust. Several gusts of over 80 mph were also clocked across the Centennial State.
These high winds knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers across Colorado, including parts of the Denver and Boulder areas.
More than 300,000 power outages were reported in Colorado early Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. However, the number of outages gradually dropped throughout the morning as crews quickly worked to restore electrical service.
(FOX Weather)
South Metro Fire Rescue in Centennial, Colorado, on the far southern side of the Denver metro area, responded to an incident in which a tree fell through the roof of a home Saturday evening in Littleton, Colorado, due to the strong wind gusts in the region.
No injuries were reported during the incident, and the home was determined to be in stable condition, according to South Metro Fire Rescue.
South Metro Fire Rescue in Centennial, Colorado, responded to an incident in which a tree fell through the roof of a home Saturday evening, April 6, 2024, in Littleton, Colorado, due to strong wind gusts in the region.
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The combination of dry brush, low humidity levels and gusty winds have also led to an increased wildfire danger throughout the region.
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Ahead of the high-wind threat, Xcel Energy, an electricity provider to communities in several states, including Colorado, Texas and New Mexico, had planned to de-energize power lines to around 55,000 customers to reduce the threat of ignition.
The company has faced scrutiny in the past for its potential involvement in deadly fires that were believed to have started around malfunctioning electrical equipment, including the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which burned more than a million acres in the Texas Panhandle earlier this year.
"Typically, when there is an issue that causes a power outage on a line, such as a tree branch contacting a power line, equipment on the system will attempt to restore power automatically, usually within a few seconds. Xcel Energy is changing the settings on those systems in many areas to prevent the automatic restoration of power. Instead, crews will patrol the area to ensure it is safe to restore service. This safety measure means power outages are likely to last longer. Crews are standing by, ready to conduct patrols and restore power when it is safe," Xcel Energy said in a statement.
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Ahead of the threat of power outages, South Metro firefighters recommended that oxygen-dependent people consider staying with family, friends or at a hotel until the threat of extreme weather was over.
In addition to the fire threat, the Colorado State Patrol announced that parts of Interstate 25 were closed to high-profile vehicles north of Fort Collins.
The blustery conditions are expected to decrease from damaging levels by later Sunday.
Computer forecast models show the possibility of a weak frontal boundary moving through the region on Tuesday before a ridge of high pressure builds into the area by the end of the workweek.