Prepare for major blusters, Denver. The National Weather Service is predicting winds as fast as 85 miles per hour on Wednesday, and they've declared a high wind alert between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. That's some fast air.
"Yes it is, it is a lot, that's correct, its pretty strong," NWS meteorologist Ayesha Wilkinson told us.
She said causes include "pressure gradients" that are "increasing and tightening." Basically, areas of high and low temperatures are colliding, which means air will whoosh between the two areas. Of particular relevance for Wednesday, Wilkinson said we're getting a lot of wind coming from the west, which will sprint down the mountains and into the Front Range.
"That will really bring strong wind in the foothills rather than the plains," she said.
Michelle Aguayo, spokesperson with Xcel Energy, said winds can cause power outages if tree limbs slam into wires, or if the winds are strong enough to blow lines over by themselves. If your power goes out, she said to contact the company immediately (they have a webpage for that). While she's not sure if the winds will make it all the way to Xcel's wind farms on the eastern plains, she said super-fast gusts can actually render their turbines useless.
Wilkinson said stuff blowing over is one concern related to these Denver zephyrs. Another big one is fire damage, since fast winds can turn small blazes into big ones relatively quickly; she said there's a red-flag warning tomorrow for this very reason.
She also said she would not suggest flying a kite tomorrow though, "I cant stop anyone." She had some other advice, too:
"I recommend taking the Santa off the roof today, rather than tomorrow," she told us. "You don't want to lose it."
