Strong winds have resulted in numerous road closures around Colorado, including one on I-25. The gusts have been so powerful that multiple semis have been toppled around the state.

As of 11:45 a.m., a 30-mile section of I-25 was closed in both directions from Fort Collins to the Wyoming State line (between Mile Marker 269 and Mile Marker 298.9). Since 7:05 a.m., four semi truck rollovers have occurred on this stretch of road amid strong winds, one of which resulted in the driver being transported to a local hospital. In three of those instances, it was reported that the semis were leaking fluids on the road.

The closure on I-25 was put in place around 10:26 a.m., involving both northbound and southbound lanes from Highway 14 north to Wyoming.

In addition to the I-25 closure, CO 93 was closed between CO 72 and CO 128, CO 128 was closed for westbound traffic between McCaslin Boulevard and CO 93, and US 85 northbound had a commercial traffic restriction in place between Nunn and the Wyoming state line, at time of reporting. Several other closures were present around the state, as well – see the CoTrip travel map for the most updated information.

The National Weather Service has activated various ‘high wind warnings’ in northern and northeast Colorado, with most of those in effect until noon on Friday. Regular wind speeds of 35 to 50 miles per hour are expected, with gusts of up to 100 miles per hour possible. These conditions are also a factor in the extreme fire risk that’s present, too, with much of the eastern half of Colorado under a ‘red flag warning.’

Per reporting from the Denver Gazette, Xcel Energy had previously warned some customers about potential power shutoffs in the interest of safety. At time of reporting (11:45 a.m.), the Xcel outage map showed that 24,161 Colorado customers were being affected by a total of 146 outages.

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