A late afternoon burst of gusty winds sucker-punched Durango on Saturday, downing trees all over the city and knocking out power to more than 900 customers of the La Plata Electric Association.
No injuries were reported.
Wind speed was reported at 63 miles per hour at Durango-La Plata County Airport about 3:25 p.m., close to hurricane-force wind strength because hurricane winds are measured at 75 mph, said Dan Cuevos, a technician with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. Severe thunderstorms have wind speeds of 58 mph.
Reported microbursts of wind brought down a tree in the 3200 block of West Second Avenue about 3:30 p.m., which in turn took down two utility poles and broke a cross-arm, causing LPEA’s system to open the circuits and stop the flow of electricity, said Indiana Reed, an LPEA spokeswoman.
About 923 customers in mostly north Durango, including the La Plata County Fairgrounds where the celebration of the County Fair was underway, then lost power.
Generators were needed in the livestock pavilion to get sound for an awards show, said Greg Felsen, the 4-H extension agent.
People still came out for the fair’s barbecue.
“We ended up running for cover (because of the rain),” Felsen said. “But people kept coming to our barbecue. I couldn’t believe it. What troopers. We had beef and corn on the cob for them.”
Because LPEA was able to isolate the power break at West Second Avenue, all but nine customers had their power restored by 6 p.m., Reed said.
City crews were also busy clearing streets of debris. One branch fell on an unoccupied car on West Park Avenue, said Durango Police Sgt. Don Cummings.
“There are some treacherous branches out there,” he said about 5:30 p.m.
The storm is also believed to be responsible for other isolated outages in La Plata and Archuleta counties.
The weather forecast for today is similar to Saturday’s with a chance of late afternoon showers, but wind gusts are not expected, Cuevos said.
Rainfall for the first nine days of August is half an inch above average for total of 1.29 inches, Cuevos said.
jhaug@durangoherald.com
