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Colorado Faces Power Outages as Winds Hit 112 mph

12/21/2025

Center

Polis Critiques Xcel

On Friday, hurricane-force winds up to 112 mph in Colorado prompted Xcel Energy to implement public safety power shutoffs.
By Saturday, more than 80,000 homes and businesses remained without power as Xcel worked to restore service.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis criticized Xcel for its outage communications and called for improved transparency.
Polis expressed gratitude for frontline workers.
Restoration efforts continued, with expectations to restore most power by Saturday night.

Left

Weather Service Warns

The National Weather Service issued a particularly dangerous situation warning for parts of Colorado and Wyoming due to forecast wind gusts near 100 mph and unprecedented dry, warm conditions this December.
The warning targets southeast Wyoming, west Nebraska, and northeast Colorado.
Recent wind storms have caused significant damage and knocked out power for over 100,000 residents.
Authorities say the situation remains critical as they monitor ongoing weather patterns.

History

Historical Context

The Great Blizzard of 1888, which struck from March 11 to 14, resulted in over 400 deaths and paralyzed the northeastern United States, including New York and Boston. With winds reaching 85 mph, the storm disrupted transportation and communication, prompting infrastructure changes like underground railways. This disaster underscored the need for improved weather forecasting and emergency response systems to better handle extreme weather events.

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Polis Critiques Xcel

On Friday, hurricane-force winds up to 112 mph in Colorado prompted Xcel Energy to implement public safety power shutoffs.
By Saturday, more than 80,000 homes and businesses remained without power as Xcel worked to restore service.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis criticized Xcel for its outage communications and called for improved transparency.
Polis expressed gratitude for frontline workers.
Restoration efforts continued, with expectations to restore most power by Saturday night.

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