(SOUTHERN COLORADO) — An approaching storm is set to bring heavy snow and wind to Colorado’s high country and just wind locally tonight and Friday. Strong and likely damaging wind gusts will develop this evening and spread down over the foothills adjacent low areas along Interstate 25.
A HIGH WIND WARNING goes into effect over the mountains at 5pm, rest of the Front Range at 8 pm and eastern plains as the sun comes up Friday. All of the WARNINGS expire at 5 pm Friday afternoon.
We’ll focus on different parts of the viewing area so that we can give you as specific of information as possible regarding timing and strength of the wind we expect.
PIKES PEAK REGION
Wind will pick up over Teller County through the afternoon with wind gust to 45mph possible through 5pm. The HIGH WIND WARNING goes into effect at 5pm because into the early evening, wind gusts are likely to increase to near 75 mph through 10pm. At the same time the wind will be expanding down the eastern slopes of the Rampart Range and Pikes Peak with places like Palmer Lake, Monument, the Air Force Academy, Peregrine, Mountain Shadows, Manitou Springs and the area around The Broadmoor seeing gusts exceed 60 mph.
Between 10 pm and 8 am we should see the strongest wind gusts between I-25, the spine of the Rampart Range and the top of Pikes Peak. I think our computer models are underdoing the peak speeds a little bit with this one as late tonight and early Friday morning gusts between 80-95mph are possible over the higher terrain of the Pikes Peak Region. Some of the trees that didn’t come down during the wind storm in December of 2021 but were weakened may come down or at least some branches are likely to come down into early Friday. Semi-trucks and high profile vehicles on I-25 may blow over too. Travel for these vehicles on north/south roads isn’t advised.
We will stay windy during the morning and if you aren’t windy in El Paso County when you wake up, you will get windy shortly with gusts between 40 and 60 mph possible for areas east of Colorado Springs along and south of highway 94. The foothill areas will continue to see gusts in excess of 70 mph through the morning too. After about 2pm the strongest gusts will begin to pull back.
CAÑON CITY TO PUEBLO
Cañon City will get gusty pretty quick late today or early this evening. A HIGH WIND WARNING becomes active at 8pm and between that time and midnight gusts may approach 70mph. Occasionally in the late evening some of this wind will spread east along the Arkansas River and places like Florence and Penrose may see these gusts too. With time overnight the gusts spread east and some gusts to near 80mph will be possible, even in the Pueblo area early Friday morning. Expect areas of blowing dust possible if you don’t have snow on the ground still – if you’ve got snow on the ground that may blow around too if it isn’t crusty on top.
We’ll stay windy in this area through Friday morning and gusts will still be between 50 and 80mph but by late morning the strongest gusts will pull back a little bit. In the afternoon the strongest gusts will begin to relax and become less frequent, especially after 2pm. It’ll still be windy but just not as strong as earlier in the day.
I-25 COLORADO CITY THROUGH RATON PASS
This area is likely to have some of the most dangerous conditions for travelers overnight into Friday. Cross wind across the Interstate by the late evening and through about 9am on Friday is likely to be between 80 and 100 mph and semi-trucks and high profile vehicles should not travel between sunset and noon on Friday as they’ll be highly likely to tip over with the strongest gusts. The strongest gusts will pull back during Friday afternoon but gusts to 45 or 50 mph will remain possible through sunset on Friday.
MOUNTAINS SOUTHWEST OF PUEBLO
The ridge tops and eastern slopes of the Wet and Sangre de Cristo mountains are going to be very windy too. Gusts will start to pick up this afternoon to the tune of 45mph or so, but with the HIGH WIND WARNING becoming active as the sun goes down, wind gusts will increase through the evening. From mid-evening through about 9 am on Friday gusts are likely to be between 70-90mph and gusts to 100mph can’t be ruled out. After that we’ll see the strongest gusts begin to relax.
EASTERN PLAINS
Over the eastern plains away from the Interstate we will be breezy this afternoon and overnight, but our HIGH WIND WARNING doesn’t become active until 7am on Friday. We won’t see strong wind gusts develop until the sun comes up. Gusts between 40 and 60mph will spread in from the west and stay strong through Friday. Fire danger will be extreme as we’ll have sunshine and low humidity. Blowing dust will be possible too and that could reduce visibility if you’re traveling. High profile vehicles traveling north or south might want to think twice about being on the roads if they are particularly top heavy.
