Forecasters issue rare weather warning as strong gusts fuel wildfire threats in Colorado

Most notable was the “particularly dangerous situation” fire weather warning issued in Colorado on Friday morning, a first for this western state. PSD warnings are reserved for the most severe scenarios, and in this case it was fueled by forecasters' concerns that extreme combinations of strong winds, super low humidity and critically dry fuels could lead to life-threatening fire danger.

“We don't really want people to panic because that doesn't help anything, but we want people to be prepared,” said Jennifer Stark, the meteorologist in charge of the weather service office in Boulder. She noted that it is the peak windy season for the area.

Tens of thousands of customers were without power Friday as Xcel Energy carried out another public safety power shutoff to prevent further fire risks. Some residents already had been without power, heat or hot water for more than 24 hours.

The utility warned that unplanned outages resulting from wind damage were expected to significantly exceed the number of customers affected by the preventative shutoffs.

In Nederland, a town in the Rocky Mountain foothills 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) northwest of Denver, Matt Arlen helped stock shelves in a grocery store that was without power — and closed to customers — since 6 a.m. on Friday, one day after a burst of “panic shopping” in response to extreme weather.

Violent winds pried away loose exterior parts from buildings in town and blew a sign from a local gem and fossil shop into Arlen’s front yard.

“We’re used to kind of high winds,” he said. “It’s more the power outage affecting people up here that don’t have fire places” for heat at home.

Still, the combination of winds and dry weather were on Arlen’s mind in a region that can be prone to wildfire. The 2021 Marshall Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in the nearby suburbs of Boulder.

“The only thing is, we haven’t had a lot of snow,” said the pricing coordinator at B&F Mountain Market.

In Boulder County, emergency management officials were urging people to be prepared in case a fire were to be sparked. Forecasters predicted gusts between 80 and 100 mph (128 and 160 kph).

“I'm not trying to scare everybody, but this is serious. We want to make sure people take it serious,” county spokesperson Vinnie Montez warned in a social media post.

Colorado transportation officials closed highways due to the conditions. The high winds also closed stretches of interstates in southeastern Wyoming to high-profile vehicles.

Meanwhile in northwestern Oregon, National Weather Service forecasters said they expected widespread river flooding to continue following heavy rains.

Clackamas County, which spans some Portland suburbs and part of Mount Hood and the Cascade Range, sent evacuation notices to 300 residences, said county spokesperson Scott Anderson. Some of the most significant flooding occurred on the Sandy, Clackamas and Molalla rivers, with authorities performing rescues throughout the night, he said.

An emergency shelter was opened at Clackamas Community College. Roads also were closed across the region, including part of a highway that leads to Mount Hood.

In northern California, forecasters were expecting a Pineapple Express, a stronger atmospheric river that originates in the tropics near Hawaii, to arrive around Christmas Even. That forecast brought hope to ski resort operators that much anticipated precipitation will extend into the Sierra Nevada, where very little snow has fallen this season.

Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, and Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contributed to this report.