DENVER — Xcel Energy is preparing for power impacts across the Front Range foothills as wind gusts that could reach more than 80 mph in some places lead to increasing fire danger through the remainder of the week.
“Despite the recent snowfall, dry fuels persist, coupled with high winds and historically low snowpack,” an Xcel spokesperson said in an email Monday announcing how the energy company was preparing ahead of critical fire weather conditions.
A high wind watch has already been issued for the Front Range mountains and foothills from 3 a.m. Thursday through 6 a.m. Friday. The watch calls for westerly winds between 35-50 mph that could gust up to 90 mph in parts of the foothills Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.
At the same time, a fire weather watch will also be in effect Thursday for north-central Colorado as westerly winds between 25-45 mph with gusts up to 80 mph will make for favorable rapid fire spread, NWS officials said.
Greg Heavener, a warning coordination meteorologist for the NWS in Boulder, said during a virtual call Tuesday that both Thursday and Saturday look to have the strongest wind events.
On Thursday, areas along and west of I-25 north of Wellington all the way up to the Wyoming border could see some pretty strong crosswinds, with 80-85 mph wind gusts for areas around Estes Park and 70-75 mph wind gusts for Red Feather Lakes, he said.
Though the forecast calls for peak wind gusts between 50-55 mph west of Boulder, forecasters were still uncertain as to how far east the strongest winds will be.
“The biggest question is, how far east do the winds on Thursday make it?” Heavener said. “We’re still watching.” Heavener added they were seeing “more refinement” that the strongest winds (those with 80+ mph wind gusts) will stay west of Highway 93 for Thursday’s wind event.
“We do think that the gusts that do come off the foothills will be less frequent than they will be in the foothills,” Heavener said Tuesday.
Xcel Energy officials said they are anticipating activating Enhanced Power Safety Settings (EPSS) in lieu of power safety power shuts offs. Those settings allow power lines to remain active until an issue is detected such as “a tree branch or other object touching” a line, according to Xcel Energy officials.
How people can prepare ahead of a potential power shutoff
The first thing people should do is stay up-to-date by going to Xcel’s website ahead of Friday’s high fire danger event. Xcel customers should also make sure their account information and communications preferences are up to date in their Xcel accounts, and should check the status of an outage by going to Xcel’s statewide Outage Map, which can notify people when outages may be resolved.
Xcel Energy also provided a list of recommended items for a home emergency kit:
- Battery-powered radio
- Flashlights
- Batteries
- Backup phone chargers
- Phone that does not require electricity
- Non-electric alarm clock
- Bottled water and non-perishable food
- Manual can opener
- First-Aid kit
- Extension cords
Xcel Energy officials said customers with medical equipment that requires electricity should take steps to prepare backup power should outages occur, adding they would be Colorado residents with qualifying medical conditions will be contacted by the utility company about this expected shutoff.