Xcel Energy responds to 26,000+ outages along Colorado's Front Range during winter storm

Xcel Energy's outage map shows dozens of power outages along the Front Range on Thursday evening with a total number of customers affected at more than 26,000. The biggest winter storm to hit Colorado's Front Range in at least 3 years will hammer the Denver area through Friday morning.

The map posted on Xcel Energy's electric outage page shows hundreds of outages in the Denver metro area and along the Front Range. On Thursday morning, that total was more t than 30,000 Xcel customers. 

The storm initially brought nearly an inch of rain on Wednesday and was enough to break the daily precipitation record in the city for March 13. Once the rain transitioned to snow early Thursday morning, snowfall rates were up to 1 inch per hour in Denver and over 2 inches per hour in the foothills.

The snow is heavy and wet which means broken tree limbs and power outages will continue to be a concern through the duration of the storm.