May’s string of sunny days has come to an abrupt end.
Rain and thunderstorms forced a delay of the Rockies game against the New York Mets, while wind gusts were responsible for almost 30 planes being diverted from Denver International Airport.
Eleven Frontier and seven Southwest flights were diverted to Colorado Springs, while six United flights were sent to Grand Junction and Colorado Springs and five United Express planes were directed to Cheyenne, Wyo.
High winds and microbursts — columns of sinking air that can force planes to rapidly lose altitude — were delaying some flights into DIA as much as 45 minutes to an hour, said Jenny Schiavone, an airport spokeswoman. Lulls between the gusts allowed some planes to take off and land, and all runways remain open.
“It’s a timing issue,” Schiavone said of flight traffic in and out of the airport.
Airport officials said the winds have died down and they are in the process of getting all of the flights back on schedule.
The storm system could also summon snow to Denver starting Wednesday.
Showers are expected tonight, with a 70 percent chance of precipitation, according to the National Weather Service. The low is expected to fall to 36 degrees, with northwest winds between 6 and 16 mph. Snow is forecast Wednesday for areas above 6,500 feet along the Front Range.
The showers are expected to stay in Denver through the day, with a possibility of snow in the morning, highs in the upper 40s and gusts of 11 to 14 mph.
The warm weather is expected to return before the weekend, with sunny skies and a high of 60 expected for Thursday and 69 for Friday.
Denver Post social media editor Daniel Petty contributed to this report.
Mitchell Byars: 303-954-1698 or mbyars@denverpost.com
