The weekend’s severe winds are calming down in Denver on Sunday, but high wind warnings persist throughout the Front Range and eastern plains.
The National Weather Service reports a sunny and breezy morning in Denver, with a high of around 58 degrees. Winds can still reach as high as 33 miles per hour. By the evening, winds are expected to slow slightly to a high of 28 miles per hour, with a partly cloudy forecast and a temperature low of about 32 degrees.
Denverites can expect a mostly sunny Monday, with winds decreasing to a high of 18 miles per hour. Temperatures could hit a high close to 56 degrees. That night is predicted as mostly cloudy, then clear, with winds around the same rate.
However, high winds persist throughout much of central and eastern Colorado.
Parts of the plains will continue to see winds blowing at an average rate of 60 to 65 miles per hour, which will start to lessen in the afternoon. Due to low humidity, the plains are also at risk of “widespread elevated fire weather conditions,” particularly in areas that didn’t experience rain, with potential for “rapid wildfire spread.”
A red flag warning is in effect from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday for Lincoln and Elbert Counties. Power outages and property damage are listed as possibilities.
Warnings are also in place across the Front Range and some mountain towns — including Nederland, Idaho Springs, Rocky Mountain National Park, Winter Park, Fairplay, Estes Park, Breckenridge, Evergreen and Georgetown — until 12 p.m. Sunday.
Winds could reach up to 80 miles per hour, which could take down trees and power lines. The National Weather Service anticipates more power outages, and “difficult” travel, with possible road closures.
On U.S. Route 6 between mile point 222 and I-70, along with Loveland Pass between mile point 222 and mile point 229, those parts of the road are closed “due to safety concerns,” according to an 8 a.m. update by the Colorado Department of Transportation.
U.S. Route 285 was also closed in both directions as of 7:30 a.m., with high wind and blowing snow between State Highway 9 and the Fairplay area. Nearby drivers are advised to travel slowly.
Notably, the wind warning was canceled for the Boulder/Fort Collins Corridor at 9:30 a.m.
