One of the strongest windstorms in Colorado in years left thousands of homes in metro Denver without power this weekend, and it could take through Monday to get electricity fully restored.

Denver saw winds averaging 60 to 70 mph on Saturday. At one point, the foothills reported wind gusts of more than 100 mph.

Hundreds of flights at Denver International Airport were delayed because of the wind and some were canceled on Saturday. Delays continued into Sunday morning.

The biggest damages from the wind were power outages and fallen trees.

In Edgewater, a downed tree limb caused a house fire, and another fallen tree ripped out a gas meter that required an emergency response in Lakewood, according to West Metro Fire Rescue. No injuries were reported.

In Littleton, South Metro Fire Rescue responded to a tree that fell through the roof of a home, the fire department said on social media platform X, adding no one was hurt.

Fallen trees can be reported by calling 311.

Denver Parks & Recreation received reports of 20 fallen trees, according to Mayor Mike Johnston, who posted windstorm aftermath numbers on X.

A total of 68 traffic signals across Denver lost power, according to Denver’s Department of Transportation & Infrastructure.

Only minor incidents were reported in Denver as a result of the storm, a Denver Fire Department spokesperson told The Denver Gazette Sunday afternoon. 

Johnston said traffic signal outages were due to Xcel Energy power outages.

Xcel power outages

As of Sunday morning, more than 150,000 Denver metro Xcel customers lost power, according to the electricity company’s outage map.

Nearly half of Boulder’s Xcel customers lost power.

The company serves 60,892 customers in Boulder, and 26,128 customers lost power, according to Xcel’s outage map.

As of Sunday morning, here is a breakdown of power outages in the most affected Denver metro cities, according Xcel:

Denver: 20,097

Arvada: 9,207

Boulder: 26,128

Lakewood: 20,835

Littleton: 15,551

Golden: 10,443

Evergreen: 6,725

Power outages in the most affected counties:

Boulder County: 38,667

Jefferson County: 64,607

Arapahoe County: 11,659

Xcel is in the midst of a restoration process that “will take time and will extend into Monday,” Xcel Energy Colorado officials said in a statement on social media platform X. 

Restoration could take longer for some customers, they added.

In preparation for high winds, Xcel officials said they needed to shut off power to a limited number of customers to reduce the risk of wind-caused wildfires.

It is the first time that strategy is being used in Colorado, Xcel officials said.

“Our top priority is ensuring the safety of our communities, customers and work crews,” Xcel Colorado officials said in a statement. “Turning off customers’ power is not something we take lightly.”

An Xcel Colorado spokesperson told 9News, news partner of The Denver Gazette, that 600 miles of powerlines that were de-energized before the windstorm need to be restored.

As a result, power restoration could go beyond Monday, Xcel Colorado’s spokesperson said, adding crews are standing by until the wind dies down.

“We will then have to send crews out to actually visually inspect the lines,” President of Xcel Colorado Robert Kenney said in a statement.

Once a power line is shut down, he added, “we can’t reenergize that line until we physically put out eyes on it to make sure that it’s safe to reenergize.”

Flight delays, roadway gusts

Flight delays at Denver International Airport rose on Sunday morning. Around 8:45 a.m., the airport reported about 65 delays, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.

By 9:30 a.m., DIA flight delays had increased to 83.

As of noon on Sunday, 130 flights were delayed out of DIA.

By 2:30 p.m., DIA saw 184 flight delays.

In Larimer County, Colorado State Patrol on Saturday afternoon needed to close Interstate 25 from Wellington all the way north to the Wyoming state line. CSP officials said it was due to high winds.