Strong winds churned up mayhem across Colorado this 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 they blew over a light pole at 17th and California streets. The pole landed on an active Light Rail wire, causing the stretch of track to close briefly until crews were able to pull it off the wire and lay it on the sidewalk.
The National Weather Service recorded winds up to 63 mph at Denver International Airport. Planes were grounded for a short period of time and several arriving flights were delayed into the evening.
Strong spats of wind were expected to continue at the airport throughout the night.
Winds roared through Denver neighborhoods, gusting between 30 to 40 mph. Trees were ripped out of the ground and mangled traffic at 14th and Ash streets and 11th and Ash streets.
A large tree was tossed across the intersection of 26th and Yates streets, 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.
An Xcel call representative said at about 7:30 p.m. that more than 600 wires were down in the metro region, and crews were still working on dangerous electrified wires that fell before 4 p.m.
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.
I-70 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 in elevations at 10,000 feet or above.
Another round of snow storms will move in Friday night, 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.
