Powerful wind gusts topple trees, break windows in southern Colorado

Powerful wind gusts caused damage in many areas of southern Colorado Thursday.

Damage to trees was widespread across portions of the Pikes Peak Region, Fremont County and the Wet Mountain Valley.

Near Westcliffe, a wind gust of 90 mph was recorded and near Wetmore a wind gust of 87 mph was recorded. Power outages were widespread in the region southwest of Pueblo.

In Caon City, a large tree fell on a home on Rudd Avenue and Fremont County Road 143 was closed briefly because of a broken power pole.

Northbound I-25 was closed near Walsenburg for much of the afternoon after a wind gust caused a semi truck to blow over onto its side.

Downed trees and sporadic power outages were reported in the Colorado Springs area. On the southwest side of the city, a tree fell on an SUV near Highway 115 and Cheyenne Meadows Road.

West of Colorado Springs, a tree fell on Highway 24 through Ute Pass. Tree damage and power outages were reported in the Cascade area and in Manitou Springs.

One woman’s car parked at Fort Carson, had her back window smashed by the wind.

“The wind picked up and all the sudden. We started getting hit with a bunch of what I thought was dirt or sand, it ended up being glass that shattered from the back of my car,” said Tracy Quetot.

Quetot’s car window along with more than a dozen cars next to hers were damaged.

“It really looked like someone just threw a rock through my windshield,” said Quetot.

A woman in the Fountain area said the wind blew off the top of her hot tub.

“It pulled it up and came all the way over. We have weights on it, so the wind must have been just right and picked it up,” said Loretta Kimball.

Wind also sent one resident’s basketball hoop flying.

“We have four rocks on the hoop but it must have been pretty strong,” said Derek Bravo.

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