Boulder and surrounding Front Range communities are dealing with the impacts of extreme wind conditions that began Wednesday and are expected to continue into Friday. Wind gusts reached between 90 and 100 miles per hour in some areas yesterday, snapping trees and power poles and leaving tens of thousands without electricity.
Xcel Energy Crews have reportedly been deployed across the region to assess damage and begin restoration efforts, though officials warn it could take several days for full service to be restored. Xcel is also evaluating the potential need for a second round of shutoffs early Friday across multiple counties, including Boulder.
Despite Red Flag and High Wind Warnings covering much of Colorado, BoulderCAST reported yesterday that there were no new fire ignitions from Wednesday’s windstorm, but fire danger remains high. NOCO Alerts said that at around 10 a.m. this morning, a small fire broke out near Foothills Campus at CSU in Fort Collins. The fire was reportedly extinguished less than one hour later. The cause of the fire has not been publicly released. Meteorologists caution that fire conditions may worsen today before improving this weekend…