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 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.
Denver7 | Weather
Category 2 hurricane winds among top speeds across the Front Range Thursday
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.
There is no word on when power will be restored.
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Denver7 | Weather
Colorado weather blog: Xcel says possible shutoffs Saturday in Boulder, Jeffco
Xcel Energy warned that more outages are possible as high winds and low humidity are expected 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.
Peak wind gusts of up to 90 mph tore through the foothills, rolling semis off Colorado highways in the hours after sunrise.
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.
Around the same time, 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.
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.
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.
► Denver7 has the full forecast in the video player below
At the same time, Evergreen residents faced downed trees as strong winds continued.
Evergreen authorities were asking residents to stay inside and off the roads.
"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.
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.
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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