High Wind — Eastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

2000-04-18 · Eastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front brought damaging winds and wildfires to parts of southern Colorado. Some of the highest wind gusts included 73 mph 5 miles southwest of South Fork in Rio Grande county and at the airport near Salida in Chaffee county, 72 mph at both Palmer Lake in northern El Paso county and 12 miles southwest of Creede in Mineral county. A wildfire spread from a neighborhood burning pit near the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Alamosa county, where about 5000 acres of grass and juniper burned. On Fort Carson in southern El Paso county 800 acres of grass was consumed when a power line sparked after being blown down. In Kiowa county a prescribed burn got out of control and burned large amounts of grassland west of Arlington, which was evacuated for a time. Power lines were blown down in southwest Fremont county, resulting in a power outage for about 2 hours for around 400 customers around Hillside, Texas Creek, and Howard. A few trees were brought down in Pueblo, including City Park. In Fountain, in El Paso county, a section of a roof at an apartment complex was ripped off, damaging three vehicles.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5141773. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.