Denver Weather: High Wind Warning Starts At Noon Wednesday
DENVER (CBS4) - Wind gusts will reach 70 to 80 mph in the foothills starting Wednesday afternoon while gusts on the Eastern Plains could reach up to 65 mph. It will also become very gusty in the immediate Denver metro area as well.
The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Warning from Noon on Wednesday until Noon on Friday. Of course the wind will not be intense during the entire warning time - there will be lulls in the wind.
The strongest wind will be found in the foothills of Jefferson, Boulder, and Larimer Counties including Highway 285 above Morrison and I-70 above Golden. But even in the western suburbs of Denver including Littleton, Lakewood, Golden, and Arvada, the wind could easily gust over 65 mph. The strongest wind will likely happened early Thursday.
The wind direction will initially be from the west through much of Wednesday night. That will mean very mild temperatures for January thanks to the downsloping effect from the wind descending the leeward side of the mountains. High temperatures will reach the lower 60s around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins on Wednesday which is about 20 degrees above normal for the middle of January.
Then the wind will shift to the north by early Thursday morning behind the cold front. That will mean temperatures much colder to normal for Thursday. And with wind gusts continue to reach over 65 mph in some areas, it will feel very cold with wind chills staying at least 20 degrees colder than the air temperature.
There will also be some light snow in the mountains Wednesday night but nothing for the Front Range. The wind will cause considerable blowing snow in the mountains through the end of the week and some ski areas may have a difficult time keeping lifts and gondolas operating. Thursday will not be a great ski day.
The next chance for any snow in the Denver metro area will be on Saturday but the chance is small and no accumulation is expected. It stays chilly from Thursday through most of next week.