High Wind — Washington County, Colorado

2026-01-15 to 2026-01-16 · Washington County, Colorado

Event narrative

Wind gusts reached 74 mph at the Akron airport with passage of a cold front during the evening of January 15th, winds subsided overnight and early morning of the 16th, but intensified during the mid morning hours with gusts of 50 to 70 mph continuing into the late afternoon hours. The peak gusts during the 16th at the Akron airport was 70 mph.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front swept southward across eastern Colorado during the evening of January 15th, with it bringing wind gusts of 55 to 70 mph. Winds subsided overnight, but became strong again during morning and afternoon hours of January 16th. A few power poles came down in Larimer County. Several miles of I-25 north of Fort Collins to the WY state line was closed to all traffic and US 85 north of Greeley to the WY line was closed to all traffic as well. A grass fire (about 500 acres) occurred along I-76 in Sedgwick county south of Sedgwick. Mandatory evacuations south of I-76 and east of HWY 59 lasted about hour before the fire was contained.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1302383. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.