Denver weather: Winds die down Sunday as heat boosts fire danger

The Denver area is in store for another windy day, but the gusts aren’t expected to reach anywhere Saturday’s levels.

The Denver metro area will see winds of 40-45 mph, said David Barjenbruch , a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. That will be considerably calmer than the gales that ripped through the area Saturday afternoon, uprooting trees and causing widespread power outages.

The strongest gust recorded in the metro was 78 mph at Denver International Airport. Winds across the metro area were clocked at 60-70 mph.

In the mountains, there was a stream of strong winds from Summit County into southeast Grand County, Barjenbruch said. Winds hit 110 mph at Winter Park.

Sunday’s windy, hot weather and low humidity will combine to boost the fire danger, Barjenbruch said. With the temperature expected to reach 90 degrees, conditions will be ripe for fire across central and eastern Colorado, according to the weather service.

And then the temperatures will start dropping as a front bringing cooler temperatures rolls in Monday morning, followed by a stronger front Monday evening. The forecast calls for a high temperature of 77 degrees. Barjenbruch said the Palmer Divide and foothills above 6,000 feet could get a little snow.

“The system almost has that springtime feel,” he said.

Saturday’s fierce winds caused power outages across the Denver area. Xcel Energy spokeswoman Michelle Aguayo said more than 182,000 customers lost power due to the storm, with 107,000 experiencing a sustained outage.

Aguayo said crews worked through the night to restore power and were still on the job Sunday morning.

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