Wind Whips Colorado Foothills, Some Still Without Power
EVERGREEN, Colo. (CBS4) -- Winter in the Rockies is still a force to be reckoned with.
With strong wind gusts Saturday, it was hard to do anything outside. Idaho Springs and Evergreen saw strong gusts all day.
Even driving was difficult with squalls blowing snow all over the road and cutting down visibility.
Ground blizzard conditions have existed all day along parts of Highway 74 in the Evergreen area. #COwx #4wx pic.twitter.com/WIOVd5w21r
— Chris Spears (@ChrisCBS4) November 30, 2019
Evergreen saw power outages, and one Xcel worker we encountered seemed to be having a hard time working in the frigid gusts.
Xcel's outage map showed 2,000 customers were without electricity at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. That number had dropped to 522 by 5 p.m.
A spokesperson from Evergreen Fire Rescue told CBS4 that the department responded to more than 35 calls since 1 a.m. for downed power lines. Many downed lines sparked small fires in trees or bushes, but the recent snow made sure those fires stayed small.
Lots of people stayed out of the wind, but not everyone thought this weather is so terrible. Ailena Drumm didn't mind it at all.
"It's awesome. It's not even cold," she said. She spent all day outside enjoying the weather that reminded her of home. "I'm from Europe, so this is like nothing."
She even explored Elk Meadows Open Space in Evergreen where the wind was especially wicked. She admitted, "We went hiking and it was super, super windy."
She wasn't alone. Some hearty souls did some ice fishing on Evergreen Lake.
But Ailena's hiking buddy who is from New Jersey didn't enjoy the wind quite as much as she did.
"He almost fell into the bushes. It was funny" chuckled Ailena.
It's a good thing Ailena had a good time while she's visiting and it could be fun to hike in the snow. Just remember to be prepared and cautious if you go because you wouldn't want to get stuck in these type of conditions.