DENVER – High winds whipped across the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, knocking out power, closing roads and highways and forcing the cancellation or delay of hundreds of flights.
The National Weather Service warned of wind gusts between 60 and 80 mph along Colorado’s Front Range throughout the day and gusts of up to 100 mph in the foothills. The weather service tweeted just before noon that the airfield at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs recorded a gust of 100 mph.
Blowing dust caused zero visibility at times on the eastern plains, and a 35-mile section of Highway 50 was closed east of Pueblo. The wind is expected to quickly subside Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, Xcel Energy reported hundreds of outages in the Denver and Boulder area, where more than 50,000 people were without power. In Loveland, about 50 miles north of Denver, police said some roads were blocked by downed trees and branches.
Nearly 500 flights were delayed at Denver International Airport, and more than 130 were canceled, according to tracking service FlightAware. The airport closed several runways based on the wind pattern, and the Federal Aviation Administration said that some arriving flights were delayed more than two hours.
Before pummeling Colorado, the storm barreled through Utah, causing power outages for thousands of customers, more than 100 crashes and snarling flights at the airport. Many classes in the area were canceled or delayed.
The Salt Lake City area received about a foot of much-needed snow, with more in the mountains.
The storm’s next target is the Midwest, which is bracing for powerful winds, heavy rain and a chance of tornadoes Wednesday.
