Powerful winds tear down trees and knock out power along Colorado's Front Range
Powerful winds raked across Boulder County Monday evening, blowing down trees and knocking out power. Parts of the towns at higher elevations were hit with not only powerful winds but snow squalls.
Power remained out at Nederland Elementary School and Nederland Middle-Senior High School on Tuesday morning. Both schools had a two-hour delayed start for Tuesday.
There were about 3,000 Xcel Energy customers without power as of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Power was expected to be restored by 11:15 a.m.
The brutal winds started causing bigger problems in the evening hours. Along Highway 7 in Allenspark, about 10 miles south of Estes Park, a cluster of trees blew down and blocked the road for a time. CDOT crews pushed the trees off the road and cut some of the trees back, working in high winds as other trees fell nearby.
Highway 72 was also hit hard, with trees falling on the roadway.
First Alert Chief Meteorologist Dave Aguilera confirmed that wind gusts reached 74 mph-plus in some areas of the Front Range. This is hurricane force.
About 2,000 customers in Boulder County had power knocked out in the storm. Nederland was one community with a widespread power outage.
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office had units go to Ward where they saw there was no power in spots. There was concern that some homes may be cut off due to downed trees but Monday night there did not appear to be any homes without a way out in case of emergency.
