Strong winds blew throughout La Plata County on Sunday afternoon, breaking some trees in half, like this one in Vallecito, and causing others to topple. Some residents lost electricity because of downed power lines.

Courtesy of Leslie Doran

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Strong winds blew throughout La Plata County on Sunday afternoon, breaking some trees in half, like this one in Vallecito, and causing others to topple. Some residents lost electricity because of downed power lines.

Courtesy of Leslie Doran

This afternoon’s blustery winds are said to be to the cause for minor blinking and scattered power outages for La Plata Electric Association customers between the Animas Valley and Lemon Reservoir. Strong winds brought down branches and even half of an old spruce tree in Bayfield.

It is unclear how many LPEA customers were effected, but outages began about 12:30 p.m. this afternoon and continued to blink, with power going on and off.

LPEA crews quickly responded, and are working to address the issue and restore electricity to customers.

The problem may continue if additional weather moves into the area, Indiana Reed, spokeswoman for LPEA, said in a news release.

Grace Sossaman, who has lived in the old Bay House in Bayfield since 1972, said Sunday afternoon winds knocked down the top half of an old spruce in her yard. She suspects a microburst.

Winds sheared about 50 to 60 feet were from the tree, Sossaman said.

Sossaman said her daughter also reported lots of branches down along the Buck Highway (County Road 521).

bmathis@durangoherald.com