School districts, colleges and universities across the Front Range and metro Denver are bracing for impacts from public safety power cuts during a wind storm thatap expected to bring gusts up to 90 mph to the foothills on Wednesday.
Xcel Energy may cut power to 52,000 customers starting at 10 a.m. as the weather system moves from the mountains into metro Denver to lower the risk of wildfires caused by downed powerlines.
Utility officials initially estimated more than 500,000 customers could lose power across the Front Range, but cut that estimate on Tuesday afternoon and narrowed the expected impact to the foothills and parts of northern Colorado, including Jefferson, Boulder, Clear Creek, Larimer and Weld counties.
The smaller impact means most schools will move forward with classes as planned while keeping in touch with Xcel and emergency officials, district officials said Tuesday.
As of Wednesday morning, the University of Colorado Boulder and Weld RE-4, Clear Creek, Jefferson County and Poudre school districts confirmed classes were canceled or operating on adjusted schedules.
Front Range school district, college and university wind impacts, as of 6:15 a.m. Wednesday:
- Jeffco Public Schools: All schools are closed, and all childcare programs, after-school activities and meetings in Jeffco Public Schools facilities are canceled.
- : All online and in-person classes are canceled and administrative offices are closed. All events are canceled.
- Clear Creek School District: All schools closed.
- Weld RE-4 School District: All preschool and elementary classes are canceled. Middle schools will release for the day at 11:25 a.m. and high schools will release for the day at 12:10 p.m. Afterschool activities are canceled.
- Poudre School District: Bethke Elementary, Timnath Elementary, Timnath Middle-High School, Red Feather Lakes Elementary, Stove Prairie Elementary and Livermore Elementary are closed.
- Red Rocks Community College will be closed.
- Thompson Valley School District: Schools will operate on normal schedules unless power will be cut for more than two hours.
- Boulder Valley School District: All schools will be on regular schedules. Alerts and closure information will be posted on individual school websites.
- St. Vrain School District: All schools will be on regular schedules.
The decision to close schools in Jefferson County came shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday.
“The late hour of this decision reflects the consideration that went into it as well as the evolving nature of the situation,” school district officials said in the announcement. “We acknowledge the inconvenience to our families and the disruption to our students who are focused on a strong finish to the semester.”
This is a developing story and may be updated.
