The National Weather Service warned of critical fire conditions on Friday as severe winds raged through Colorado mountain foothills west of metro Denver and other northern Front Range cities, leading to more than 100,000 homes and businesses losing power.
Metro Denver temperatures reached 70 degrees on Friday afternoon, breaking records.
Federal meteorologists early Friday issued an unusual “” covering the foothills, anticipating wind gusts at speeds up to 100 mph. Around 3 p.m., the strongest gusts weakened, meteorologists said, but they warned of a second surge Friday night with gusts at speeds up to 75 mph.
⚠️PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION Fire Weather ⚠️
We rarely issue these Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warnings regarding potential for rapid wildfire spread in and immediately adjacent to the Boulder/Jefferson County foothills. Be ready to take swift action.— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
Metro Denver hit 70 degrees shortly before 2 p.m. under mostly sunny skies. Relative humidity hovered around 6%. No snow is expected through Christmas, according to the weather service’s afternoon .
A weather service in effect until 8 p.m. covered mountains and foothills along the Front Range from Castle Rock to Fort Collins. A red flag fire warning covered Colorado Front Range cities from the Wyoming border to Pueblo and included Cañon City.
Weather service forecasters observed “very high winds combined with an extremely dry airmass and near record temperatures,” according to their morning bulletin. “The highest threat for these conditions will exist in the foothills of Boulder and northern Jefferson Counties, and down to 5500 feet elevation immediately next to those foothills,” forecasters wrote.
“Outside of that, the wind speeds will likely be lighter, or there will be more uncertainty as to whether the strong, gusty winds develop.”
Front Range residents should “be ready to take swift action” due to critical fire conditions along the Interstate 25 corridor, forecasters said.
For Saturday, they estimated a high temperature of 58 degrees in metro Denver with a slight chance of rain late Saturday. Forecasters anticipated mostly sunny skies through the weekend.
WIND UPDATE:
Upper Foothills- Strongest gusts weakened but second surge later tonight (60-75 mph)
Lower foothills/Hwy 93 Corridor- Winds peaking now and will continue for the next couple of hours
I-25 Corridor and East- Peak winds will occur after sunset (40-60 mph)
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
