DENVER — A powerful windstorm slammed Colorado’s Front Range on Thursday, toppling power lines and semis, fanning wildfires, and leaving tens of thousands without electricity as gusts neared 100 mph.
The storm’s force was felt across the region, including on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins.
CSU officials canceled Friday classes while they assess the damage.
Tens of thousands lose power
The storm also knocked down power lines in several areas along the Front Range, cutting power to area residents and closing roads and highways.
More than 25,000 Xcel Energy customers — mainly along the foothills and northern Colorado — lost power as the company implemented enhanced powerline safety settings ahead of Thursday’s storm.
This setting makes lines more sensitive and will shut off power automatically if impacted, Xcel said.
Other regional power providers experienced outages. Poudre Valley REA reported sporadic outages throughout the day, affecting more than 2,550 people.
The outages and downed power lines caused some schools to close early and briefly shut down roads and highways, including U.S. 287.
Xcel Energy warned that more outages, including planned outages, are possible as high winds and low humidity are expected on Saturday.
"Wildfire risk is expected to remain high through the end of the week and into the weekend, and strong winds heighten the likelihood of damage to power lines and may result in outages. These weather conditions are expected to peak on Saturday," the company said in a news release.
Wind topples semis, shuts down highways
At the same time that thousands were seeing their lights go out, the storm was toppling semis across the Front Range.
Several semi-truck rollovers were reported on CO-93 in Jefferson County, with at least one person injured, a 38-year-old driver who was transported to a nearby hospital.
"For truck drivers facing such winds, find a safe place to wait until conditions improve," said Joe Jackson, a truck driver with over four decades of experience.
Even experienced drivers like Jackson and Nelson D'Aoust take high winds seriously.
"In high winds, I drive beside another vehicle to block the wind and prevent rollovers," said D'Aoust, who has driven more than 3 million miles.
"A tractor-trailer’s large mass and low center of gravity mean 40-60 mph winds can tip it, whether loaded or not," explained Jackson.
Meanwhile, in the northern part of the state, the Colorado Highway Patrol responded to four separate semi truck rollovers along Interstate 25, with crashes reported between mileposts 294 and 275.
Two of the semis were leaking fuel or other fluids, and one driver was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.
By 10:26 a.m., both directions of I-25 were closed from Highway 14 to the Wyoming state line due to the dangerous winds.
"It's frustrating," said Claudia Gold, who spent the afternoon with her mother in a Maverick parking lot off Exit 269 waiting for the interstate to reopen. "I get that it’s windy out and all that, but we’re just trying to get back home.”
While Gold rolled the dice, Carol Ratcliff and her husband threw in the towel and booked a hotel room for the night.
"We left Aurora on our way to Cheyenne to deliver my mom to an assisted living center," she said. "We got this far and they closed the roads. We grabbed the first hotel we could get.”
The Colorado Department of Transportation reopened I-25 later in the evening.
Winds fan fires
Beyond the highways, the wind also fueled fast‑moving fire activity.
In Larimer County, a windswept wildfire that sparked north of Fort Collins prompted evacuations but was soon cleared after crews gained control of the blaze.
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Another small fire was reported near Evergreen, but no evacuation orders were issued in that blaze.
It’s unclear what sparked either of the blazes.
Elsewhere along the foothills, residents dealt with downed trees and blocked roads as Evergreen authorities were asking residents to stay inside.
"Beaver Brook Canyon Road and Forest Estates Road are two of the roads with significant tree fall, but not the only ones," Evergreen Fire and Rescue said in an online post.
DIA travelers face 1K+ delays
The storm also disrupted travel at Denver International Airport, with thousands of flights delayed by strong winds.
On Thursday morning, the FAA issued a ground stop, which then became a ground delay.
With little to do but wait, some passengers tried to make the best of the situation.
"I'm going through some work emails, but it is kind of nice because I'm usually rushing through the airport, so I have some time to just take my time," traveler Rebecca Harr said.
Harr was trying to make her way to the East Coast, though she was not looking forward to the turbulent conditions once cleared for takeoff.
Fierce winds, high fire danger again
Forecasters say the winds won’t ease immediately.
The National Weather Service said wind speeds will remain strong in the higher foothills and mountains through the overnight period and into the late morning Friday, but will gradually die down later in the day.
However, a prolonged period of critical fire weather conditions will persist through Saturday.
Some of the top wind speeds recorded in this storm are as follows:
- 97 MPH – 1 SSW Carter Lake, Larimer County, CO
- 93 MPH – 3 NNE Horsetooth Reservoir, Larimer County, CO
- 90 MPH – 4 N White Ranch Open Space, Jefferson County, CO
- 88 MPH – 2 NE Berthoud, Larimer County, CO
- 87 MPH – 5 NNE Hygiene, Boulder County, CO
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