Crews were mopping up Thursday but still bracing for more after hurricane-force wind downed power lines and fanned wildfires along the Colorado Front Range and onto the Great Plains.
Wind that in places topped 100 mph (160 kph) late Wednesday arrived after Xcel Energy protectively cut off power through much of its eastern Colorado service areas. The goal was to prevent downed lines from starting fires — and power lines were indeed blown down in several areas.
