High winds roaring across the Front Range foothills on Wednesday forced road closures throughout northern and central Colorado, according to state transportation officials.

A wind storm is expected to bring gusts reaching 80 to 90 mph through the entire Interstate 25 corridor, from the Wyoming to New Mexico state lines, according to the National Weather Service.

Colorado Department of Transportation officials announced planned closures of Colorado 93, U.S. 128 and U.S. 287 starting at noon because of the high winds, with no estimated time of reopening. A “high wind caution” was also issued for roads in Clear Creek and Jefferson counties.

As the demand for drinking water in Colorado continues to rise, a Northern Colorado community is planning to increase the price of its water and sewage services by 26% in 2026. 

The town of Windsor, a rapidly growing community of more than 45,000 residents, plans to start increasing its prices in April of next year.

Town Manager Shane Hale told CBS Colorado the town and council had no other option but to rapidly increase their prices. He attributed it to a need for more services while also improving existing ones.

“We certainly are (aware of the sticker shock),” Hale said. “The town board lives in town. They are going to see these costs as well.”

Hale said the town needs to replace an aging infrastructure for their water distribution.

“We had a major distribution line for water that broke a couple times last year,” Hale said.

Also, to meet growth demand and EPA standards, the town also needs to completely replace its existing sewar treatment plant in the southeast corner of the community.

“We are not just building an expansion,” Hale said. “We have to build a brand-new plant.

Windsor originally hoped to build the new plant in 2020. Hale said, if they would have been able to do so, it would have cost around $50 million to complete.

However, since then, the cost of labor and supplies has inflated so significantly that the price for the same plant is projected to be three times more expensive than planned for.

CBS Colorado asked Hale why the town didn’t slowly increase rates over the years instead of completing one drastic spike of 26% in 2026.

“That is a great question. I will tell you we have been gradually increasing our rates each year,” Hale said. “The challenge that we had, especially on the sewer side, were our costs were increased by three times.”

In order to lower the price tag, the town has also reduced the size of the plant it’s going to build. Hale said the current plant can operate 2.8 million gallons of water per day. They hoped to build one that could accommodate 6.3 million gallons per day. However, to offset costs some while also meeting demand of the growing town, they now plan to build a plant that can manage 4.2 million gallons a day.

Hale said the town is at the mercy of the cost of construction and the price of getting machinery into their possession. He also said many of the items they need are only made internationally, meaning they are in line with others to get the product without much room for negotiation.

“Unfortunately, in order to manage our infrastructure and maintain it, the town doesn’t really have a choice,” Hale said.

Hale said the increased prices should be reflected in bills that arrive for residents in March of 2026. Not all residents will be impacted the same, as some are served water by other water providers.

Hale believes, if it weren’t for inflation, the town would not have increased the price of sewage treatment or water distribution in 2026.

DENVER – Two big weather stories will play out Wednesday in Colorado’s High Country and portions of the plains and I-25 corridor as high winds are expected to batter portions of the state. The wind and low humidity will also create conditions for the rapid spread of any fire along the I-25 corridor including the Denver metro area.

“It will be another unseasonable warm day on Tuesday, which is day 8 of 60 degree plus temps,” said Lisa Hidalgo, Denver7 chief meteorologist. “Unfortunately with the warmer, dry and windy conditions, we’re looking at higher fire danger.”

“Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Strong winds will likely lead to rapid fire growth of any new fire,” wrote National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters in Boulder.

A high wind warning starts at 11 a.m Wednesday and will be in effect until midnight.

“Strong downslope winds to impact the mountains, foothills, and I-25 corridor Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night, with potential for widespread gusts 60-85 mph, strongest near the base of the foothills. Breezy conditions will extend into the plains through Thursday morning.”

Colorado’s mountains and foothills above 9,000 feet could see up to 85 mph wind gusts on Wednesday. Wind gusts between 50 to 70 mph are also possible for the lower foothills and communities on the western side of the I-25 corridor, wrote the NWS, which called the weather system a “high impact wind event.”

NWS Boulder

A red flag warning will go into effect starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday for the I-25 corridor to include Fort Collins, Boulder, the Denver metro, and Castle Rock through Colorado Springs.

The NWS said the “primary window of concern” will run through 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Due to the wind situation, Xcel Energy customers should be advised the utility is planning for a Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS, on Wednesday which means power would be proactively shut off in targeted areas for a period of time when wildfire risk is extremely high.

Before any PSPS would happen, Xcel Energy would first use another tool called Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings or EPSS.

EPSS are extra protections which allow power lines to remain active until an issue is detected such as “a tree branch or other object touching” a line, according to Xcel Energy.

Once an issue is detected, power to the line is shut off.

NWS Boulder

While Tuesday will remain mostly dry in Colorado, the weather system triggering Wednesday’s high winds will also bring snow to the higher elevations.

Hidalgo said there is a slight chance a shower could roll across the Denver metro area late Wednesday afternoon into the early evening hours.

Stay with Denver7 for updates and we will publish a live, Colorado weather blog tracking impacts on Wednesday.

Denver7’s Stephanie Butzer contributed to this report.

Denver7

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