Strong winds churned up mayhem across Colorado on Thursday afternoon, delaying planes, closing highways and even destroying a beehive.
Winds whipped across the metro area, swaying pedestrians side-to-side as they navigated downtown sidewalks.
Gusts got so strong downtown that a light pole at 17th and California streets was knocked over. The pole landed on an active light-rail wire, causing the stretch of track to close briefly until crews were able to pull the pole off the wire and lay it on the sidewalk.
The National Weather Service recorded winds up to 63 mph at Denver International Airport. Departing flights were grounded for a short period, and several arriving flights were delayed into Thursday evening.
Strong spurts of wind were expected to continue at the airport throughout the night.
Winds roared through Denver neighborhoods, gusting between 30 and 40 mph. Trees were ripped out of the ground and disrupted traffic at East 14th Avenue and Ash Street and East 11th Avenue and Ash Street.
A large tree was tossed across the intersection of West 26th Avenue and Yates Street, disturbing a large beehive nestled in the branches.
“The bees caused people a bit of grief initially,” said Lt. Phil Champagne, spokesman for the Denver Fire Department.
Xcel Energy reported hundreds of calls of downed power lines in metro neighborhoods.
Along the Eastern Plains, winds of up to 66 mph caused problems for residents and commuters as dust blew across Interstate 70 near the Kansas border. The interstate was closed for several hours in both directions from Burlington to Kansas until the dust settled.
In the high country, a winter weather advisory was in place for most of the day.
Brief but heavy snow fell in the mountains, dropping 1 to 3 inches at elevations of 10,000 feet or above.
Another round of snowstorms will move in tonight, as colder air flows bring winter storms into elevations as low as 6,000 feet.
By Saturday, there could be 2 to 6 inches of snow in the mountains.
