Severe weather tips
Here’s what you need to know when severe weather hits
Holly Engelman/The Coloradoan, Wochit
Northern Colorado and the western Front Range are in for some big winds Dec. 17, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
Big enough to cause Xcel Energy to shut off electricity preemptively in order to avoid the chance of a fire starting.
As a result of that, several schools in the region are closed or are closing early Dec. 17.
Read on to get updates about the impacts from this high-wind event from Dec. 17. The most recent updates were added to the top. Find updates from Dec. 18 at Coloradoan.com.
Xcel Energy announced late Dec. 17 that it had begun restoring power to Front Range communities affected by strong winds and a preemptive shutdown earlier in the day because of concerns about equipment damage and fire danger.
Although customers of Fort Collins and Loveland’s municipal utility services were not affected, many people in Timnath, Windsor and surrounding communities were included in the preemptive shutdown that began at 10 a.m. Dec. 17.
Other Xcel Energy customers in the area, including schools in Laporte and Wellington, reported unplanned power outages as wind speeds increased in the late afternoon into the evening.
Restoring outages could take several hours to several days to complete, the news release said.
Forecasts for additional high wind, dry ground conditions and low relative humidity for Dec. 19 could have Xcel Energy “anticipating” another preemptive shutdown that day. That Public Safety Power Shutoff could impact mountain communities as well as the Front Range, beginning as early as 5 a.m. that day, the news release said. Those shutdowns could overlap with some communities affected by the Dec. 17 weather outages, “which means some areas may be without power for more than three days,” the news release read.
— Kelly Lyell
Work continues as of 9:30 p.m. Dec. 17 to restore power to many Xcel Energy customers across Northern Colorado.
While some are seeing their power come back, many remain without. For the latest information, visit the Xcel Energy outage map.
— David Dishman
Rice Elementary School in Wellington also lost power Dec. 17 because of high winds, Poudre School District announced about an hour after sharing the news that the other elementary school in Wellington, Eyestone, had also lost power.
Both schools are served by Xcel Energy, Poudre School District spokesperson John Cope told the Coloradoan in a text message sent after 9 p.m.
Wellington Middle-High School has a different power provider, Cope said, and was not expected to be impacted by the outage that impacted Wellington’s elementary schools.
An email sent to students, families and staff of Rice Elementary students about 9:15 p.m. and shared by Cope with the Coloradoan, said district staff were in communication with its utility partners and actively monitoring the situation while awaiting information about when power to the school might be restored.
As the school district said in previous emails to students, staff and families of schools in Laporte and Timnath that were also still without power the evening of Dec. 17 because of the high winds, a decision on the status of Rice Elementary’s status for Dec. 18 will be made by no later than 5 a.m. Dec. 18. The district will notify students, families and staff sooner, if it receives updated information sooner on when power will be restored, according to the emails.
— Kelly Lyell
High winds caused a power outage at Eyestone Elementary School in Wellington that could force the school’s closure Dec. 18, according to a Poudre School District email sent after 8 p.m. Dec. 17.
The power outage affects both the North and South campuses of the school.
District staff is in communication with its utility partners and actively monitoring the situation as they await additional information about when power might be restored, according to the email, shared with the Coloradoan by district spokesperson John Cope.
A decision about the school’s status Dec. 18 will be made by the district and communicated to students, families and staff by no later than 5 a.m. Dec. 18, according to the email.
The status of PSD schools in Laporte and Timnath that were also without power Dec. 17 will also be made by no later than 5 a.m. Dec. 18, those students, families and staff were told via email earlier in the evening Dec. 17. Schools impacted by those outages were Cache la Poudre elementary and middle schools, Bethke and Timnath elementary schools and Timnath Middle-High School.
— Kelly Lyell
Fire crews gained full containment on a wind-driven grassfire burning south of Cheyenne, Wyoming, as of 8 p.m. Dec. 17, and all evacuations were lifted, a spokesperson for the Cheyenne/Laramie County Emergency Administration told the Coloradoan.
One shed and one camper were damaged, but no other structures were burned by the wildfire, said Beth Harris, the planning and administrative coordinator for the emergency administration. No fatalities and no injuries were reported.
Estimates on the size of the fire were not available the night of Dec. 17 but would be determined through an aerial assessment on Dec. 18, Harris said.
The fire was first reported at 4:26 p.m. near mile marker 4 on Interstate 25 just across the Colorado-Wyoming border and along Terry Ranch Road, Harris said.
Fueled by high winds, the fire spread quickly, moving northeast along Terry Ranch Road and threatening homes in the Winchester Hills and Bison Crossing subdivisions. Those neighborhoods were immediately evacuated as crews from multiple fire agencies worked to contain its spread.
Evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes about 8 p.m., Harris said.
Terry Ranch Road was to remain closed overnight to provide fire crews access to complete cleanup work and address possible flareups, Harris said.
— Kelly Lyell
With power still out at its schools in Laporte and Timnath on the evening of Dec. 17, and no word on when it would be restored, Poudre School District said a decision on the status of those schools for Dec. 18 would be made no later than 5 a.m. Dec. 18.
Emails sent to families of students at Bethke and Timnath elementary schools and Timnath-Middle High School and Cache la Poudre Elementary and Middle School said the district would notify families sooner, if it receives updated information from its utility partners.
The Timnath schools were closed Dec. 17 after the school district was notified that they would be included in a preemptive power shutdown by Xcel Energy to guard against wind damage to power equipment that could possibly spark fires, the utility said in announcing the shutdown. PSD also closed its three mountain elementary schools Dec. 17 because of expected impacts from the preemptive shutdown, although those schools ended up being outside of the affected area.
The Cache la Poudre schools, which share a campus in Laporte, lost power about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 17, just as their school days were ending, PSD spokesperson John Cope said. Those schools also receive their electricity from Xcel Energy, he said.
No other PSD schools were impacted by the preemptive shutdown Dec. 17 and were able to operate as scheduled, Cope said.
Schools in the Weld RE-4 School District, which serves Windsor, Severance and west Greeley, were also closed because of the preemptive shutdown by Xcel Energy on Dec. 17. They were still without power at 4:15 p.m. Dec. 17, and their status for Dec. 18 had not yet been determined, spokesperson Katie Smith told the Coloradoan.
Ivy Stockwell Elementary School in Berthoud was also in the area of the preemptive shutdown Dec. 17 and closed for the day. No update on its status for Dec. 18 was immediately available.
State regulations require schools to close if they are without power for more than two hours, according to news releases and other communications from the Poudre, Thompson and Weld RE-4 school districts.
— Kelly Lyell
A grassfire being driven by winds gusting 60 to 70 mph threatened homes and prompted mandatory evacuations of a neighborhood just south of Cheyenne, Wyoming, according to the Laramie County Emergency Management Office.
The fire was first reported about 4:30 p.m. Dec. 17, burning just east of Interstate 25 and just north of the Colorado-Wyoming state line, Beth Harris, the county’s emergency planning administrative coordinator told the Coloradoan. A mandatory evacuation of the Winchester Hills neighborhood off Terry Ranch Road south of Cheyenne was ordered, with firefighters and deputies from the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office going door to door and telling people to leave immediately.
“It was very crazy, and very fast-moving,” Harris told the Coloradoan at 6:15 p.m.
Fire crews from multiple agencies were able to get the fire under control relatively quickly with help from a light rain, she said. The mandatory evacuation order, however, remained in place to provide fire crews with “easy access in case there is a flareup,” Harris said.
Harris was not immediately able to say how many homes were under evacuation orders, how large the fire was or how many firefighters were on scene.
— Kelly Lyell
Robert Kilbourn, 70, of Loveland, has ridden his bicycle year-round since 1979. He thought he could get a ride in Wednesday, but the wind proved too much.
Luckily for him, a Coloradoan reporter offered to let him hitch a ride back into town.
Wind proves too much for Colorado cyclist
Robert Kilbourn, 70, of Loveland, Colo., has biked year-round in all kinds of weather, but Dec. 17, 2025, proved too much.
— Miles Blumhardt
A deli manager and a customer share some reactions with the Coloradoan regarding the Xcel Energy power outage that affected Windsor and other parts of Northern Colorado on Wednesday.
Shoppers describe the impact of today’s power outage
The Xcel Energy power outage in Northern Colorado caused disruptions at local grocery stores, drawing reactions from customers and workers.
— Abigail Flores-Johnson
With sunset approaching, thousands of people without power in Colorado will likely have to navigate dinnertime and darkness.
Xcel Energy hasn’t offered a definitive time for when power will be restored, but said wind conditions were expected to improve starting around 6 p.m.
Ahead of its planned shutoff, Xcel said the shutoff could last hours or days and that crews would have to examine equipment before the lines could be reenergized.
— Rebecca Powell
Colorado Emergency Management is tracking charging stations, shelters and resource centers operated by county emergency management agencies and the American Red Cross.
As of mid-afternoon on Dec. 17, its map showed the following six centers along the front range for people needing to charge up devices or get out of the wind:
- Old Town Library, 201 Peterson St Fort Collins, open until 6 p.m.
- Council Tree Library, 2733 Council Tree Ave., #200, Fort Collins, open until 8 p.m.
- Loveland Library, 330 N. Adams Ave., Loveland, open until 6 p.m.
- Grace Place, 375 Meadowlark Drive, Berthoud, office open until 4 p.m.
- Belmar Library, 555 S. Allison Pkwy, Lakewood, closing time not listed
- Evergreen Library, 5000 County Highway 73, Evergreen, closing time not listed
— Nate Trela
The National Weather Service reported that gusts of up to 97 mph have been recorded so far.
- 97 mph near the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Area in Jefferson County.
- 96 mph estimated at the National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesa Lab southwest of Boulder/
- 93 mph at the Arvada RAWS station near Highway 93.
- 87 mph at Boulder airport.
— Rebecca Powell
Locally owned business, the Bottled Olive Pantry, is still open for regular hours despite the power outage (Open till 6 p.m. today), shop owner Amanda Hiller said.
“My business depends on Christmas, and Xcel cut my energy off at 10 a.m.,” Hiller said. “We are open and excited for anyone to still come in and shop at our small business.”
— Abigail Flores-Johnson
Fort Collins Utilities says it is highly unlikely it will experience any power outages due to the wind, in part because 100% of its electrical infrastructure is buried.
That has been a point of pride for the city, which began experimenting with underground power lines back in 1948, according to Coloradoan archives.
It was done for aesthetic reasons and also for power reliability.
Undergrounding was completed in 2006.
This story from the Coloradoan archive explains how it all happened.
City of Loveland Utility lines are also mostly buried, at 87%, according to the utility.
So if Fort Collins’ power lines are buried, what are the big power lines you see overhead on the Power Trail or other parts of the city?
Those are either main transmission lines from Platte River Power Authority going to a substation, or belong to a different utility, said Nick Combs, communications and marketing manager for Fort Collins Utilities.
PRPA, which provides electricity to utilities in Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Estes Park, uses steel towers for their transmission lines, he said, and they are built to withstand high winds.
Maia Jackson, communications supervisor with PRPA, told the Coloradoan there is a strong vegetation management program so “the risk of our transmission lines causing a fire remains low.”
There are also protection systems set up to monitor the operations of the transmission lines and automatically open line sections that experience fault conditions, Jackson said.
— Rebecca Powell
Skies in Fort Collins have become cloudy and the sounds of wind have begun.
The strongest gusts so far have been in Boulder and Jefferson counties, but Larimer County is also showing up on the National Weather Service’s storm report webpage.
Here are the top wind gusts, as of about 1:30 p.m.:
- 91 mph: National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesa Lab in Boulder County
- 86 mph: Crisman area near Bald Mountain in Boulder County
- 80 mph: Near Rocky Flats in Jefferson County
Larimer County wind gusts so far:
- 61 mph: Near Masonville
- 60 mph: Near Buckeye, north of Fort Collins
— Rebecca Powell
Multiple highways in Boulder and Jefferson counties have been closed because of high winds, the Boulder County Office of Disaster Management reported in a post on X at 12:53 p.m. Dec. 17.
U.S. Highway 36 from Boulder to Lyons, Colorado Highway 93 from Eldorado Springs to Golden, and Colorado Highway 128 from Indiana Avenue to Colorado 93 were all closed by the Colorado Department of Transportation, according to the post. It also noted that high-profile vehicles were restricted from travel on Colorado Highway 72 (Peak-to-Peak Highway).
The post went on to note that reports had been received about traffic-signal outages, downed power lines and road hazards, including fallen trees.
— Kelly Lyell
Fire season used to be contained to the summer, but the Marshall Fire made clear that high winds and dry conditions can mean devastation even in the winter.
This Xcel power shutdown was done preemptively as a way to take precautions against a potential fire. If a fire were to break out, here are some of the best practices to prepare for emergencies. Fire officials particularly recommend having a “go bag” packed and ready at all times. The bag should be small and light enough that you can sleep comfortably in your vehicle with it if you have to. It should also be kept somewhere easily accessible. Items in a go bag can include:
- Important documents such as birth certificates, IDs and medical records, either copies or originals and as hard copies or on a thumb drive. Keep them in a zipper-sealed gallon bag to protect them from water.
- Necessary prescriptions or medications. If they need to be kept cold, keep a supply of those together in your fridge, keep ice packs together in your freezer and a small cooler with your go bag.
- Changes of clothes, possibly for multiple days.
- Extra eyeglasses/contact lenses.
- Extra car keys.
- Credit cards, cash or traveler’s checks.
- A first aid kit and sanitation supplies, including diapers and wipes for those who need them.
- A flashlight and battery-powered radio with extra batteries.
- A charged power bank and cable for your cellphones.
- N95 masks to protect you from smoke inhalation.
- Calorie-dense, nonperishable snacks that don’t take up much space, such as granola bars and energy bars, and a few bottles of drinking water.
- Mylar emergency blankets, which are smaller than a deck of playing cards when folded up.
— Nate Trela
Additional restaurants in Windsor were dealing with the loss of power Wednesday. Both the Subway and Cold Stone Creamery were forced to close their doors during the power outage, with Cold Stone running a generator.
“Our Subway is currently closed due to the power outage,” Subway general manager Courtney Gonzales said. “We don’t know for how long, but I’m hoping we open again soon.”
“We are closed because we have no electricity,” said Miranda Hunter, the owner of the Cold Stone. “I have to have generators running my freezers until the electricity is back up. Until I have electricity, I can’t be open. We also don’t have hot water. It’s been a bad day and night. We had to start preparing because they told us they were going to shut down our electricity. I had to buy those generators to keep the ice cream from melting.”
— Abigail Flores-Johnson
Russ Schumacher, professor in CSU’s Department of Atmospheric Science and Colorado’s state climatologist, said since 2005 when windspeeds first were recorded at Christman Field, January has more days with strong wind (58 mph or more) than any other month, but December has the strongest and longest-lasting windstorms.
— Miles Blumhardt
As of 12:30 p.m., FlightAware was reporting 91 flight delays and three cancellations at DIA.
It is advised to check your flight status prior to heading to DIA on Dec. 17 due to the potential impacts of high wind.
— Miles Blumhardt
U.S. Highway 287 is closed from the Wyoming state line to Colorado Highway 14, also known Poudre Canyon Highway.
The closure began at noon, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
There is no estimated time of reopening.
— Rebecca Powell
Windsor closed its Town Hall and several other public buildings to the public because of the ongoing power outage, the city announced at noon Dec. 17.
The public closure applies to:
- Town Hall, 301 Walnut St.
- Community Development Center, 200 N. 11th St.
- Public Services, 922 N. 15th St.
- Windsor Police Department lobby, 960 N. 15th St.
The city’s Community Recreation Center remained open with partial limitations to areas and equipment, according to an update on the city’s website.
— Kelly Lyell
Windsor restaurants, from Starbucks to Asian Pearl Bistro, were closed due to the power outage Dec. 17.
“Due to the power outage, we will be temporarily closed. Usually we open at 11 a.m., but I walked in surprised to see a customer,” Asian Pearl Bistro owner Joann Chu told the Coloradoan. “I did not see the update from Xcel Energy.”
The King Soopers (1520 Main St.) and Safeway (1535 Main St.) grocery stores in Windsor were also impacted by the outage.
“We are currently running as normal but we are only selling dry and baked goods, nothing refrigerated,” Safeway checker Kyle Hammond said.
King Soopers is not selling refrigerated items, either, but is otherwise “still running normally,” head clerk Max Werth told the Coloradoan earlier Dec. 17.
— Abigail Flores-Johnson
As thousands are dealing with a loss of power, many are scrambling to find a place to work Wednesday afternoon.
Since much of Fort Collins still has power, many coffee shops there are potential options for those a short distance away. We pulled together a short list from past coverage and compiled them here.
— David Dishman
Almost 100,000 Xcel Energy customers in Colorado are without power, according to an outage map provided by the utility.
The map showed more than 96,000 customers affected by outages statewide, as of about 11:45 a.m. Dec. 17.
In the Fort Collins and Windsor area, about 8,100 customers were without power, according to the map.
In the Berthoud area, more than 1,400 were without power
Poudre Valley REA, which also supplies electricity in the region, reported more than 800 customers affected by outages, with most of them near Lyons.
Fort Collins Utilities’ outage map shows only six customers without electricity but cites scheduled maintenance as the reason.
City of Loveland Utilities’ map shows no outages, as of about 11:45 a.m.
— Rebecca Powell
In anticipation of high winds forecast for Dec. 17, the Colorado Department of Transportation issued some safety reminders for motorists.
Tips for driving safely in windy conditions include:
- Reduce speed and keep both hands firmly on the wheel.
- Be alert for sudden gusts, especially when passing larger vehicles.
- Give high-profile vehicles plenty of room on the roadway.
- Do not overcorrect if you get blown off course by a short gust.
- Watch for debris in travel lanes and changing road conditions.
- Avoid unnecessary travel during peak wind periods, if possible, especially for semi-trucks, light-weighing and smaller vehicles.
- Once you are at your destination, park away from trees and power lines.
— Kelly Lyell
With power outages connected to high winds expected to impact some traffic signals Dec. 17, the Colorado Department of Transportation is reminding motorists what to do if they come to an intersection where the lights are not functioning.
If the lights are dark or flashing, motorists must treat the intersection like a four-way stop, the agency said in a news release.
— Kelly Lyell
The more than 50,000 Colorado households facing a power outage due to high winds on Dec. 17 will have to figure out how they will keep their refrigerators cold.
And those who rely on electricity for their heat will have to figure out how to stay warm, though fortunately, temperatures are expected to be mild for this time of year during this wind event.
Xcel Energy has a planned public safety power shutoff that began 10 a.m. Dec. 17. The utility said it could last for a few hours or a few days.
Here’s how to prepare for a power outage and deal with the effects.
— Rebecca Powell
The King Soopers store at 1520 Main St. in Windsor is without power and will not be selling refrigerated items, head clerk Max Werth told the Coloradoan. The store is otherwise “still running normally,” Werth said.
— Abigail Flores-Johnson
December through early January produces some of the state’s highest wind gusts, especially in and near the Front Range foothills.
The current strong wind is being caused by a mountain wave that occurs when wind flowing over a mountain range creates strong wave patterns on the lee or downhill side of the mountains, according to the National Weather Service.
As the air moves down the leeward side of the mountain, it picks up speed, causing significant updrafts, downdrafts and turbulence that can be hazardous for aircraft.
Fort Collins’ highest recorded wind gust of 84 mph occurred Dec. 30, 2008, at Christman Field on the northwest side of the city, according to Russ Schumacher, professor in CSU’s Department of Atmospheric Science and Colorado’s state climatologist.
Schumacher told the Coloradoan the city experienced wind gusts of more than 70 mph last week.
Climate center data shows the National Laboratory of the Rockies just south of Boulder produces its highest wind gusts in December and January.
The site has recorded more than 200 wind gusts of at least 80 mph in December and more than 125 such gusts in January.
— Miles Blumhardt
In the event there are power outages associated with the forecast of high wind Dec. 17, drivers should treat all intersections with a flashing or nonoperational traffic light as a four-way stop, according to the town of Windsor.
— Miles Blumhardt
Xcel Energy says another public safety power shutoff could happen on Dec. 19, when another high-wind event is in the forecast for the mountains and Front Range.
Xcel said it could begin as early as 6 a.m.
— Rebecca Powell
Front Range Community College announced it is planning to close all of its campuses at 10 a.m. Dec. 17 “to minimize travel during the anticipated high wind periods and to ensure everyone’s safety,” according to an early morning news release.
The college was shifting all of its student services to remote or phone from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., said the news release from spokesperson Jessica Peterson. The college said it would provide updates, as necessary, on its website and @FRCCedu accounts on Facebook, Instagram and X.
FRCC has campuses in Fort Collins, Longmont and Westminster.
— Kelly Lyell
According to Zach Hiris, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Boulder, the strongest wind is expected at elevations of 6,000 to 7,500 feet.
- 10-11 a.m: Wind begins to pick up
- Noon to 5 p.m.: Wind significantly increases with strongest gusts expected between 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- 6 p.m.: Strongest wind begins to subside but gusts from 30 mph to 40 mph expected to persist overnight.
— Miles Blumhardt
— Rebecca Powell
Some schools are closed Dec. 17.
In Poudre School District, Bethke Elementary, Timnath Elementary, Timnath Middle-High, Red Feather Lakes Elementary, Stove Prairie Elementary and Livermore Elementary will be closed.
In Windsor RE-4, elementary schools are closed and middle and high schools will close early. Middle schools will release at 11:25 a.m. and high schools will release at 12:10 p.m.
All but one school in the Thompson School District were open Dec. 17 with normal schedules in place, the district said on its website.
The exception was Ivy Stockwell Elementary School in Berthoud, which was closed after the district was told by Xcel Energy earlier that morning that power there would be part of the preemptive shutoff for forecasted high winds.
State regulations require districts to close schools when power is unavailable for longer than two hours, the district said in its announcement.
— Rebecca Powell and Kelly Lyell
A morning update from Xcel Energy says it will initiate a public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, at 10 a.m. for areas of Boulder, Clear Creek, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties.
The shutoff is to prevent wind-damaged equipment from starting a fire, which is what happened in the December 2021 Marshall Fire in Boulder County.
In Larimer and Weld counties, areas flagged for shutoff include areas around Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor and Berthoud, according to an outage map.
Other electric providers in the region do not have plans to proactively cut off power but Poudre Valley REA says outages could occur if infrastructure is damaged.
In Fort Collins, all electric infrastructure is buried, and in Loveland, 87% of it buried. The utilities for both cities say they don’t expect outages for that reason and because wholesale power provider Platte River Power Authority has fire prevention measures that reduce the chances of something like that happening.
— Rebecca Powell
