Watch CBS News

Strong Chinook Winds Blast The Rockies

By Dave Aguilera

DENVER (CBS4) - Strong winds whipped the Colorado Rockies with incredibly strong gusts during the day Wednesday. Some of the gusts over some of the mountains and high foothills blasted up over hurricane force. Such was the case on Berthoud Pass where winds shot up to 81 mph! Hurricane force winds are 74 mph and higher.

The winds were damaging over northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. CDOT  was forced to close I-25 near the Wyoming border for high profile vehicles. The gusts were strong enough to blow over a semi on I-25 in northern Colorado.

semi blown over
A semi blown over on I-25 (credit: Colorado State Patrol)

Cars and low profile commercial trucks were able to get through but, many of the higher profile trucks had to wait several hours since the closing of the highway around 9:15 am on Wednesday morning.

Several different neighborhoods in and around Larimer and Weld Counties including Fort Collins and Greeley experienced power outages because of Wednesday's strong, gusty winds. With the Poudre Valley REA working hard to get power back up in many different areas of the Poudre Valley area of northern Colorado.

Some of the other areas that experienced power out because of line being blown down include but, are not limited to Johnstown, Milliken, Pierce and Ault.

The warming Chinook winds managed to warm temperatures around the Denver metro area well into the unseasonable 60s for afternoon highs!

Meteorologist Dave Aguilera is a Colorado native and has been forecasting weather in the Rocky Mountain region for over 25 years! Connect with Dave on Facebook and on Twitter @DaveAgCBS.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.