More than 16,800 power customers are without power following high winds and an Xcel Energy planned power shutoff.
Boulder County is under a red flag warning and a high wind warning on Wednesday, with wind gusts expected to reach as high as 85 mph between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Xcel Energy said it would cut power in parts of Boulder, such as Flagstaff, University Hill and north Boulder, and in parts of Longmont and Superior, according to the energy company’s map of affected areas.
About 16,053 Xcel customers were without power as of about noon across Boulder County.
Shortly after 10 a.m., as many as 7,537 customers lost power, but were not part of the original estimate, according to Xcel’s own outage map.
In Lyons, about 800 customers lost power following the high winds hitting the county, according to the town’s energy co-op, Poudre Valley REA, in a social media post.
Fire conditions are expected to make a resurgence on Friday, which might mean another planned outage, according to an Xcel social media post. The second outage could be underway as soon as 6 a.m. Friday, the post states.
The outages are meant to limit the risk of fires starting on Wednesday, according to Xcel. So far this winter season, the weather in Boulder County has been unseasonably warm and dry, with little snow and rain and highs regularly in the mid-60s across the eastern plains of the county.