High winds, warm temperatures and dry conditions have meteorologists sounding the alarm across much of Colorado on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know.

Red Flag Warning issued

The National Weather Service in Boulder has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Interstate 25 corridor, including Denver, and across Colorado’s Eastern Plains from 11 a.m. through 9 p.m. Thursday.

“Critical fire weather conditions, including strong, gusty winds, low humidity, much above normal temperatures, and recent dryness all spell conditions favorable for rapid wildfire spread should a new fire start,” the weather service said.

The strongest gusts were expected near the base of the foothills, meteorologists said, where 80-100 mph gusts could whip north and west of Fort Collins, and 50-75 mph along the Wyoming and Nebraska borders.

“Avoid any outdoor activities that may produce a spark!” the weather service said. “Be ready to take quick action should a fire start nearby!”

High Wind Warning issued

A High Wind Warning was also issued for the Front Range Mountains and the foothills through noon Friday, and for Fort Collins and the area along the Wyoming border from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.

The weather service said sustained winds of 30-50 mph were expected, with peak gusts hitting 80-100 mph in the foothills and higher Front Range mountains north of Interstate 70, and 80 mph north of Wellington.

Meteorologists warned that travel could be hazardous, especially for high-profile vehicles. Tree damage and scattered power outages were also possible.

Road closures

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday said eastbound I-70 was closed at exit 256 at Lookout Mountain due to a semi-truck that had rolled on its side. Traffic was being diverted onto Highway 40. It was not immediately clear if the rollover was weather-related.

Deputies also said Highway 93 was shut down between Highway 72 and Highway 128 due to high winds after a semi-truck was blown onto its side. Highway 128 was also closed westbound from McCaslin Boulevard to Highway 93.

The Colorado Department of Transportation said northbound I-25 was closed at Highway 14 from Fort Collins to the Colorado state line. Additionally, I-25 southbound was closed from Cheyenne to the Colorado state line.

Power shutoffs and outages

Xcel Energy this week warned customers to be prepared for preemptive power shutoffs in the interest of safety. The power provider said it was monitoring Jefferson, Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties.

Nearly 32,000 Colorado customers were without power at 2 p.m. on Thursday as a result of 167 unplanned outages across the state, according to the Xcel Energy outage map.

The largest outages included three in Larimer County impacting a total of 8,800 customers, two in Boulder County impacting nearly 3,000 customers and one in Jefferson County that impacted over 3,300 customers. Arvada and Clear Creek had already seen major outages earlier in the day.

School closures

Boulder Valley School District pre-emptively closed its mountain schools on Thursday due to high winds, elevated fire danger and the potential for power outages.

Nederland Elementary, Nederland Middle-Senior High, Gold Hill Elementary and Jamestown Elementary were included in the closures and all before-school and after-school activities were canceled, the district said. Bus service for mountain-area students to non-mountain area schools was also canceled. That included everything west of 4th Street in Boulder.

Air travel impacts

A ground stop was issued at Denver International Airport just before 9:30 a.m. Thursday due to high winds, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Denver International Airport had over 800 flight delays and 43 cancellations as of 2 p.m., according to Flight Aware, a flight tracking website. The average delay time was nearly two hours, according to the FAA.

Denver expects near-record highs

In Denver, temperatures were expected to reach 69 degrees on Thursday under mostly sunny skies and breezy conditions. That’s about 14 degrees warmer than the average high in Denver for March 12, and only 6 degrees off the record high of 75 degrees, set in 1916, according to weather service archives.

Winds were expected to gust up to 34 mph in Denver on Thursday, the weather service said.