issued red flag warnings Wednesday for most of Colorado, including the Front Range, Eastern Plains and southern state — where Xcel said it would implement a at noon.

The utility noted at 4:30 p.m. on its website that the wind speeds were not as high as expected, so a preemptive shut-off was not needed.

The red flag warnings, which started at 10 a.m. and will remain in effect until midnight, call for wind gusts of up to 60 mph and humidity as low as 5%, according to the weather service.

“Extreme fire danger is expected,” stated a for the San Luis Valley area, which was impacted by Xcel’s outages. “Fires will uncontrollably spread and be very destructive.”

The San Luis Valley is also experiencing extreme to exceptional drought, .

Xcel’s preemptive power outages would have affected roughly 7,100 customers in Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla and Rio Grande counties, according to the utility.

The utility thanked customers for their patience and recognized some may have been disrupted by ultimately unnecessary preparations for a preemptive shut-off.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

A combination of strong winds, low humidity and “unseasonably warm and dry” conditions will create critical fire danger in Colorado’s Eastern Plains, Front Range foothills and high mountain valleys on Wednesday, .

The utility is planning for a possible beginning around 9 a.m. Wednesday for some customers in Garfield, Mesa and Pitkin counties and around 11 a.m. for some customers in Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande and Saguache counties, according to a Wednesday afternoon news release.

Xcel did not state how many customers could expect to be affected.

The National Weather Service has declared a red flag warning for the San Luis Valley for the hot, dry, windy weather that is expected. The area also experiencing extreme to exceptional drought, according to the .

Weather conditions are expected to start improving around 7 p.m. Wednesday, and crews will start restoring power as soon as it is safe to do so.

Strong winds may also damage power lines and cause unplanned outages, according to the utility.

In areas not affected by the preemptive outages, Xcel may still implement “,” utility officials said. The settings make power lines more sensitive and shut off the flow of electricity if an issue, like a tree branch touching the line, is detected.

The settings can also make outages last longer, because utility crews must inspect the lines and the surrounding area before restoring power, according to Xcel Energy.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Airlines reported 794 flight delays and 30 canceled flights as of 8 p.m., according to the flight tracking site .

Departing planes were sprayed with deicing fluid for most of the day, which wrapped up before 5 p.m., according to the n.

Flight delays at DIA included 242 delays on Southwest Airlines, 225 delays on United Airlines and 189 delays on SkyWest, according to FlightAware. SkyWest canceled 16 flights, followed by Southwest with five cancellations, Lufthansa with four, American Airlines with three and United and Frontier with one canceled flight each.

Cold weather is expected to linger overnight, with thermometers expected to drop to 18 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

“Some snow finally returns to the lower elevations for Friday,” . “Not a big storm, but it will be more winter-like with light snow for the lower elevations, and a few inches and slick travel for the mountains.”

As of Thursday morning, , expected snowfall totals included:

• 1/2 inch in Commerce City and Denver, with up to 1 inch possible
• 1 inch in Aurora, Arvada, Broomfield, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Littleton and at Denver International Airport, with up to 2 inches possible
• 2 inches in Boulder, Castle Rock and Parker, with up to 3 inches possible
• 3 inches in Estes Park, with up to 6 inches possible
• 4 inches in Coal Creek Canyon and Eldora, with up to 9 inches possible
• 5 inches on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 8 inches possible
• 6 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 9 inches possible
• 7 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Gould, with up to 9 inches possible

Snow will be possible in Denver between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Friday, according to . The winter weather was previously forecast to continue into Saturday morning.

The issued for most of Colorado’s Front Range and Eastern Plains will start Friday night and continue into Saturday morning, when temperatures are expected to drop as low as 18 degrees, .

“If not drained or protected, damage to above-ground irrigation lines will likely occur,” the watch stated. “A hard freeze could kill sensitive vegetation and damage fruit trees.”

Freeze Watch Friday Night

Hard freeze expected with lows 18-25 Friday night. Damage to early season vegetation, fruit trees, and above ground sprinkler systems possible.

Move any freeze sensitive vegetation indoors if you can, and drain above ground sprinkler systems.

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)

, snow is expected to accumulate across Colorado between 6 a.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Saturday included:

• 1 inch in Bennett, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Denver, Longmont and Northglenn, with up to 2 inches possible
• 1 inch in Aurora, Castle Rock, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Littleton and Parker, with up to 3 inches possible
• 2 inches in Boulder and Breckenridge, with up to 4 inches possible
• 3 inches at the Keystone Ski Area Summit and on Interstate 70’s Vail Pass, with up to 5 inches possible
• 4 inches in Evergreen, with up to 5 inches possible
• 4 inches in Estes Park, Georgetown and Idaho Springs, with up to 7 inches possible
• 5 inches in Winter Park and Coal Creek Canyon, with up to 9 inches possible
• 6 inches in Eldora and on U.S. 40’s Berthoud Pass near Winter Park, with up to 10 inches possible
• 6 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 12 inches possible
• 7 inches on Colorado 14’s Cameron Pass near Gould, with up to 12 inches possible

“Slick road conditions and travel impacts can be expected in most of the mountains, foothills, and even the Palmer Divide (on) Friday and Friday evening,” . “Lighter snow accumulations will be possible on the plains.”

Snow will be possible in Denver between 7 a.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday, so the amount of snow expected in the city may grow as the weather service’s forecast extends.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

As of Monday morning, , snowfall expected early this week included:

• 2 inches in Georgetown, with up to 6 inches possible
• 3 inches at Eldora, with up to 5 inches possible
• 4 inches at Winter Park and on Willow Creek Pass, with up to 7 inches possible
• 4 inches on Vail Pass, with up to 8 inches possible
• 5 inches on Berthoud Pass, with up to 11 inches possible
• 6 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, with up to 7 inches possible
• 8 inches on Cameron Pass, with up to 10 inches possible

No snow is expected in the Denver area by Thursday, but metro snow will be possible between 6 a.m. Friday and noon Saturday, according to . The city can also expect rain between 11 a.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday, with a chance of Tuesday afternoon thunderstorms, according to the weather service.

As of Sunday morning, red flag warnings were in effect for parts of the Front Range, Eastern Plains and southern Colorado, . The — which will remain in effect until 8 p.m. Sunday — included Baca, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Crowley, Douglas, El Paso, Elbert, Fremont, Gilpin, Huerfano, Jefferson, Kiowa, Lake, Larimer, Las Animas, Lincoln, Otero, Park, Prowers, Pueblo, Teller, Washington and Weld counties.

Wind gusts up to 35 mph and humidity as low as 7% were forecast for the state, according to the weather service.

“Elevated fire danger is expected,” weather service forecasters out of Pueblo wrote in one of the warnings. “Fires will catch and spread rapidly and erratically.”

Fire danger is expected to continue into Monday as warm, dry and windy weather continues, .

As of Sunday, Monday fire weather watches were already in place for Clear Creek, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, Larimer, Lincoln, Park, Washington and Weld counties, . Those watches may turn into new red flag warnings.

The weather pattern is expected to shift Tuesday, with better chances for rain in the Denver area and snow in the mountains, . Dry and windy conditions are expected to return on Wednesday and Thursday, but snow will be possible in the mountains and metro area on Friday and Saturday.

FAA officials ordered the ground stop at 3:49 p.m. and lifted it at approximately 5 p.m., according to an agency alert.

Weather sensors at DIA recorded gusts as high as 32 mph on Saturday afternoon, with sustained wind speeds reaching 25 mph, according to the

Airlines reported 212 and three canceled flights as of 5:55 p.m., according to the flight tracking site FlightAware, including 74 delayed flights on Southwest Airlines, 54 delayed flights on United and 48 delayed flights on SkyWest.