An estimated 50,000 lost power at some point on Christmas Day in the Denver area as winds hammered the Front Range. Gusts, stemming from a winter storm that left snow throughout the high country, reached 80 mph in some spots.
Xcel Energy indicated outages — some affecting thousands — were in and around the city, although clustered mainly west of Interstate 25. By about 9:30 p.m., some 13,000 were still without electricity.
“We’re on it. Trying to get to it as quickly as possible,” said Mark Stutz, a spokesman for the utility. “The bulk of the outages have been from branches and trees in our lines, or broken branches and trees. There have been some poles and/or wires down as well.”
Reports are that the winds should subside after 8 p.m., he said. In the meantime, Xcel has intensified operations to get outages fixed. More than double the normal number of crews are out working on homes and the utility is planning to seek help from neighboring power providers.
“Some customers, especially down at smaller level outages, may be out until tomorrow evening,” Stutz warned. “The goal right now is to keep all the crews that were on today working through the night.”
Numerous locations along the Front Range Foothills & Urban Corridor have experienced winds in excess of 40 mph this afternoon.
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
A high-wind warning is in effect until 11:59 p.m. Sunday for much of the metro area, including Larimer and Boulder counties and Evergreen, Arvada, Golden and Lakewood. The National Weather Service in Boulder is expecting sustained winds from 30 to 45 mph in the foothills and gusts as high as 90 mph in some wind-prone areas.
The weather service clocked a 75 mph gust Sunday in Superior and an 84 mph gust in Rocky Flats.
“Very strong and gusty winds will produce difficult travel conditions, particularly for drivers of high-profile and lightweight vehicles,” the weather service said in its warning. “Highways impacted may include the Peak to Peak Highway, (Colorado) 93 between Boulder and Golden, and U.S. 36 between Broomfield, Boulder and Estes Park.”
West and east of Limon, roads slush covered and icy. CDOT is out, please reduce speeds. Thanks!
— CSP Limon (@CSP_Limon)
In the mountains, the wind, combined with snow, was causing tough driving conditions. Interstate 70 was closed for a period over Vail Pass because of spun-out motorists.
U.S. 285 between Bailey and Fairplay also was closed because of the weather.
In Denver, the weather service is forecasting a low about 20 degrees for Sunday night, with winds dying down after midnight.
Monday’s high in the city is expected to be near 40 degree with sunny skies.
