Strong Wind — Larimer & Boulder Counties Between 6000 & 9000 Feet, Colorado

2025-03-24 · Larimer & Boulder Counties Between 6000 & 9000 Feet, Colorado

Event narrative

There was a brief window where downslope winds gusted to 50-60 mph across the foothills of Boulder and Larimer Counties. The typical wind prone areas saw higher winds with the NCAR Table Mesa lab reporting a 84 mph wind gust. Also, a station 1 northeast of Crisman (Sunshine Canyon) reported a 74 mph wind gust.

Wider weather episode

Gusty winds of 50 to 70 mph occurred in the Front Range foothills and far west side of the Denver metro area. There were isolated reported in the 70 to 80 mph range with a peak wind of 82 mph measured at 3 miles southwest Rocky Flats. The large power outages (20,000 total customers) in the West Metro area were caused by broken equipment, likely caused by the high winds this morning, Xcel Energy said.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1242767. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.