Look Out Below! Heavy Colorado Snow May Cause Falling Tree Branches

DENVER (CBS4) - Trees and shrubs in Colorado are in full bloom, and experts say that blooming spring foliage combined with this weekend's wet snow will cause problems.

"There's leaves on those trees, which just provides more surface area where that snow is going to land and accumulate, making those branches heavier," said Kelly Flenniken the Director of Community Relations for Xcel Energy.

When those tree branches get heavy, they are likely to break and fall. In the past, they have fallen on cars, streets, or even power lines which could cause outages.

The City of Denver reminds their residents to try to safely remove snow from heavy branches. They say first make sure the tree is clear of all utility lines, and use a broom to remove the snow. They emphasize that you should not climb a tree or use a ladder.

If the branches are close to power lines, you can report it to Xcel and they will remove them for you.

"Please don't have anybody go and try to do that or take care of that yourself," said Flenniken. "If you do think that you have trees that look dangerous, call those in just the same as you would if you saw a downed power line."

Xcel says they have crews ready to trim trees, repair downed lines and restore power staging all over the State because they want to keep the power on throughout the storm.

"We really want to keep our customers and communities safe," said Flenniken.

They also want to remind people that if you do have an outage make sure to report it so they can get about fixing the problem even faster.

You can report an outage, dangerous trees, or a downed powerline by calling 1-800-895-1999. You can also report outages by visiting xcelenergy.com/out or texting "out" to 98936.