HURRICANE FORCE WINDS SLAM REGION; 90 MPH GUSTS RECORDED!

 

UPDATE  

Violent winds pummeled the mountains near Denver on Tuesday and slammed into the foothills, forcing the shutdown of major highways, toppling trees and power lines and tipping semi-trucks. 

At about 5:30 a.m., the Dakota Hill sensor - nine miles north of casino-hub Central City in Gilpin County - registered winds "gusting up to 90 mph!" the National Weather Service said. That's equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane, based on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Wyoming experienced similar conditions. In the Colorado town of Jefferson in Park County - northeast of Fairplay - winds were clocked at 75 mph at 6:22 a.m., the weather service said. In Boulder County, scene of December 2021's horrific wildfires, the sheriff's office banned open burning, including on agricultural land. Utilities reported scattered outages in the Denver area and foothills. In Gilpin County, the sheriff's office said: "High winds are causing falling trees and downed power lines throughout the area." Further west, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center issued an avalanche watch for Park Range north of Steamboat Springs due to winds and heavy snow. The winds forced authorities to close sections of major roadways, including I-25 north of Fort Collins and Highway 287 in rural Larimer County, where two semi-trucks flipped over, fire officials said. This map illustrates highway shutdowns:

[Photo: National Weather Service, Livermore Fire Protection District]