High Wind — Boulder & Jefferson Counties Below 6000 Feet, Colorado

2001-05-20 · Boulder & Jefferson Counties Below 6000 Feet, Colorado

Wider weather episode

Intense winds developed as a vigorous cold front, accompanied by a line of thunderstorms, spilled over the Cheyenne Ridge and moved rapidly across the Urban Corridor and Northeast Plains. Peak wind gusts to 83 mph (72 kts) downed trees and power lines. Approximately 32,000 Xcel customers in Weld, Boulder, Lafayette, Littleton, central Denver and Aurora were without electricity for up to two hours. Zero visibilities were reported due to blowing dust, dirt and other flying debris. As a result, a multi-vehicle accident occured along U.S. Highway 85, between Greeley and Fort Lupton. Six people were treated for minor injuries. Several vehicles, including semi trailers, were reportedly blown off Interstate 70, west of Limon and along Interstate 76, in Morgan County. In Lyons, the roof of the new post office under construction was blown off the building. The Regional Electric Association estimated the damage to power lines and poles, as well as the cost to run backup generators during the outages, was approximately $3.4 million.Strong winds gusting to 58 mph (50 kts) at Denver International Airport caused at least a dozen incoming flights to be diverted to Grand Junction and Colorado Springs. Departing flights were grounded for at least an hour. At Southwest Plaza in Littleton, shoppers were evacuated as rocks holding a tarp on a portion roof under repair, toppled into the mall. Temperatures in one hour dropped from the mid 70s into the mid 30s.Peak wind reports included: 83 mph (72 kts) at Greeley Airport, 71 mph (61 kts) at Fort Collins, 70 mph (60 kts) at Lyons, 68 mph (59 kts) at Fort Morgan and 15 miles east of Parker, 66 mph (57 kts) at Merino, 64 mph (56 kts), 4 miles east of Haxtun, 64 mph (54 kts) at Severance, 63 mph (55 kts), 5 miles southwest of Sedalia, 61 mph (53 kts), 15 miles west northwest of Sterling and 6 miles southwest of Wellington, 60 mph (52 kts), 2 miles north of Johnstown and 58 mph (50 kts) at Denver International Airport.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5250136. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.