Massive wind gusts Tuesday tipped over semi-trucks, flung furniture off patios and temporarily stopped flights at Denver International Airport.
The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of 89 mph in Louisville. Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield reported gusts of 86 mph while DIA logged gusts of 51 mph.
In the metro area, trash cans were flung across Speer Boulevard, traffic lights swayed alarmingly and windows downtown shook so much that they wobbled like Jello. Fierce gusts overturned massive planters on the 16th Street Mall and dropped a street light onto a car near the Greyhound bus station at 20th and Curtis streets.
Full on dust storm and small dog advisory in Frederick right now!
— Eric Gilles (@esgilles)
The Denver Police Department received too many calls to count, many of them relating to power lines in trees. Traffic was shut down at East Sixth Avenue and North Potomac Street due to a downed light pole. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office received calls of trees in the road, downed power lines and traffic light outages every couple of minutes.
Xcel Energy’s outage indicator showed hundreds of outages leaving nearly 50,000 people without power in the metro area.
Heavy winds forced DIA down to two runways, causing delays into the evening for departing and arriving flights as the airport expects heavy winds until 9 p.m. Major gusts caused the airport to pause all activity for about 10 minutes. An airport spokesman said 25 flights had been diverted as of 4:30 p.m.
The Colorado Department of Transportation closed down highways because of the fierce winds and blowing dust. Semi-trucks were pushed over, including one blocking the ramp from Colorado 7 to northbound Interstate 25.
Firefighters struggled with 60 mph wind while tackling a 5-acre fire near Sedalia, forcing CDOT to close Colorado 67 between Elephant Rock Road and Pine Creek Road.
NWS meteorologist Russell Danielson said the wind was stirred up by a cold front moving through. The wind started picking up around 1:30 p.m. and is expected to decrease later in the day. Until then, NWS warned drivers — especially those in high-profile vehicles — not to travel for three to four hours.
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