Tremendous Windstorm Threatens Colorado, To Be One Of Worst On Record. Fire Risk Too

Colorado residents are hoping extreme winds tonight
do not cause big wildfires, like the one pictured
here that destroyed more than 1,000 homes around
Boulder in December, 2021.

 It's often windy along the Front Range of the Rockies in Colorado and on the adjacent plains to the east.  

But this is truly ridiculous.  

Widespread gusts of 60 to 90 mph are expected overnight from the Front Range eastward.  Winds could gust to 115 mph in some of the foothill towns not far from Denver. There have already been some reports of gusts in the 70 to 80 mph range as of late Saturday afternoon

The strongest winds are likely tonight and Sunday morning. 

 A local utility is shutting off power to 55,000 customers in some Colorado regions because the wind could snap power lines, which would cause rapidly spreading wildfires amid dry conditions.  The planned outages started at 3 p.m. today and are expected to go through at least noon Sunday.

The utility, XCel was blamed for down lines that caused a catastrophic wildfire around Boulder, Colorado on December 30, 2021 that destroyed more than 1,000 homes. It was the costliest fire in Colorado history. 

Xcel has denied its equipment caused the Boulder fire, but they're not taking any chances, apparently. 

Aside from the fire risk tonight, Colorado residents were told to expect structural damage to some homes and other buildings, tree damage, power outages and blowing dust  

A large section of Interstate 25 is closed because officials figure the winds will tip over a lot of trucks if they drivers try that highway. Truckers have been warned to stay off most roads in the area because of this hazard. 

Shows at the famed Red Rocks outdoor venue in Colorado have been canceled this weekend due to the wind. 

The winds will also extend over a huge area from New Mexico and through most of the Plains States from Texas north to North Dakota.  A big chunk of that area in eastern New Mexico. northern Texas, parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and of course Colorado have a high risk of rapidly spreading wildfires tonight and tomorrow. 

The same storm has spun off a line of severe thunderstorms in Nebraska and Kansas this afternoon. Even outside the storms, winds in the two states have been gusting to over 60 mph today.  In Wyoming, the intense winds tonight and tomorrow combined with some snow threaten to create blizzard conditions.

The strong storm causing all this wild weather is forecast to move out toward Iowa, but also rapidly fizzle out by Monday. 

A new storm is predicted to form on the tail end of this storm along the western Gulf Coast this week then head up through the eastern United States toward the end of the week. It's too soon to tell how bit that second storm will become.