The National Weather Service on Friday issued a rare warning for part of the Colorado Front Range as hurricane-force winds and tinder dry conditions boosted the threat of wildfire across several counties, while flood warnings were issued in Oregon as rivers there swelled from heavy rain.
It marked another day of severe weather in parts of the United States, with forecasters issuing warnings for everything from more winter weather bearing down on North Dakota to red flag warnings in Nebraska and Texas and flood warnings from Washington south into California.
Most notable was the “particularly dangerous situation” fire weather warning issued in Colorado on Friday morning. PSD warnings are reserved for the most severe scenarios, and in this case it was fueled by forecasters’ concerns that extreme combinations of strong winds, super low humidity and critically dry fuels could lead to life-threatening fire danger.
“We don’t really want people to panic because that doesn’t help anything, but we want people to be prepared,” said Jennifer Stark, the meteorologist in charge of the weather service office in Boulder.
Tens of thousands of customers were without power Friday as Xcel Energy carried out another public safety power shutoff to prevent further fire risks. Some residents already had been without power, heat or hot water for more than 24 hours.
“Turning off the power is not a decision we take lightly, and we will strive to restore power as soon as it is safe to do so,” the utility said in a message to customers. “We stress that some customers may experience extended outages lasting several hours to several days as crews work to restore power.”
The utility also warned that unplanned outages resulting from damaged power lines was expected to significantly exceed the number of customers affected by the preventative shutoffs.
In Boulder County, emergency management officials were urging people to be prepared in case a fire were to be sparked. Forecasters there were predicting gusts between 80 and 100 mph (128 and 160 kph).
“I’m not trying to scare everybody, but this is serious. We want to make sure people take it serious,” Vinnie Montez, a spokesperson for the county, warned in a social media post.
Colorado transportation officials also closed highways due to the conditions. The high winds also closed stretches of interstates in southeastern Wyoming to high-profile vehicles.
Meanwhile in northwestern Oregon, the National Weather Service issued flood warnings Friday, with forecasters expecting widespread river flooding to continue following heavy rains.
Clackamas County, which spans some Portland suburbs and part of Mount Hood and the Cascade Range, sent evacuation notices to 300 residences, said county spokesperson Scott Anderson. Some of the most significant flooding occurred on the Sandy, Clackamas and Molalla rivers, with authorities performing rescues throughout the night, he said.
An emergency shelter was opened at Clackamas Community College. Roads also were closed across the region, including part of a highway that leads to Mount Hood.
In northern California, forecasters were expecting a Pineapple Express, a stronger atmospheric river that originates in the tropics near Hawaii, to arrive around Christmas Even. That forecast brought hope to ski resort operators that much anticipated precipitation will extend into the Sierra Nevada, where very little snow has fallen this season.
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Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon contributed to this report.
