More than 140,000 homes were without power across Colorado early Sunday morning as high winds caused fires and downed trees, and millions of people across the West were under high wind warnings and fire hazard warnings.
Most of the Colorado residents without power late at night were customers of power company Xcel Energy, according to its website. Power outages were concentrated in Boulder County, Denver, and Fort Collins.
On Saturday afternoon, Xcel Energy preemptively cut off power to about 55,000 customers in several counties due to wildfire concerns. The company said these outages are expected to last at least until noon Sunday as crews need time to inspect power lines.
High wind warnings were issued until 11 a.m. Sunday for parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming. Winds could gust up to 40 mph in some areas and up to 130 mph in some areas, blowing down trees and power lines, the National Weather Service said.
Red flag warnings were issued for parts of Colorado and Utah due to concerns that high winds and dry conditions could cause the fires to spread quickly, the weather service said. Such warnings are issued when authorities expect high temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds to increase the risk of fire.
On Saturday, more than 77,000 people lived in areas considered to be “emergency”, where the risk of fire is highest, and more than 2.9 million people lived in areas considered “critical”.
A portion of Interstate 70 was closed in Kansas Saturday evening as high winds, poor visibility and a crash shut down the highway, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. said on social media. It reopened a few hours later.
Forecasters said power outages, broken tree branches and flying dust were all expected due to the winds.
In Colorado, wind speeds exceeding 90 mph were recorded in some areas of Boulder County on Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service. Said.The city of Boulder was hit with wind gusts of 103 mph.
Firefighters were battling a one-acre wildfire in the National Forest near Estes Park, Colorado, Saturday night. By Saturday night, the local forestry department said the fire had not spread significantly and the only immediate threat was to utility poles. Said on social media.