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Trees, street signs topple amid gusty conditions Wednesday

Zach Fridell
Chuy Rivera (on the roof) and Jonathan Rivera (on the ground) clean up a lodgepole pine tree that was blown over by strong winds Wednesday afternoon in downtown Steamboat Springs. The tree, which was growing in the front yard of Nathan and Summer Walker, clipped the Walker's home on the way down, and also landed on the home of the the family's next door neighbor, Joanne "Doc" Lasko. Nobody was hurt, but both homes were damaged.
John F. Russell

There were no car wrecks this morning attributed to the snowy, windy conditions, but forecasters say the slow-moving storm in the region will not dissipate until Thursday morning.

Sgt. Dale Coyner said this morning there were a few street signs and trees knocked down by the wind but no wrecks in Steamboat Springs attributed to the weather. Routt County Road and Bridge officials said that nothing had blown down on county roads and that the county was sanding some roads.

“The only thing we really had this morning was a number of intrusion alarms caused by high wind,” Coyner said. As the wind rattled doors, especially near Mount Werner, several alarms sounded. When officers responded, they found the doors closed and locked.



The wind is strongest in the mountains because the weather system is creating strong downhill flows, forecaster Bryon Lawrence said.

“We’re seeing the wind go up and over the mountains and down slopes,” he said. “As for snowfall amounts, we do expect snow to continue on and off during the day today.”



The weather system is based in the four corners region, Lawrence said, and will slowly move east today, tonight and Thursday morning.

Lawrence said one spotter estimated winds at 70 miles per hour northwest of Steamboat. At 11:15 a.m., the wind on Mount Werner was blowing between 25 and 30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 40 miles per hour. The National Weather Service does not have any instant-read wind gauges in Steamboat, Lawrence said.

Lawrence said 2 to 4 inches of snow could accumulate in town during the day today, with another 2 to 4 inches expected tonight and 1 to 3 inches Thursday morning.

Lawrence said 8 to 12 inches could accumulate at higher elevations during this storm.

“The ski area should get a nice little helping of snow here,” he said.

Chains were required for commercial vehicles on Rabbit Ears Pass on Tuesday evening, but the law was lifted today.


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