High Winds In Colorado and Wyoming Tip 14 Semi Trucks
Winds were bad enough to close parts of Interstate 25 in two states.
A stretch of Interstate 25 between Wellington, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming was closed by each state's Department of Transportation due to gusty wind conditions Monday. Bursts of wind were recorded as high as 80 miles per hour, according to 9 News. Sections of U.S. Route 85 and U.S. Route 285 also saw closures in reaction to weather conditions. The wind was said to have thrown 14 semi trucks on their side, according to The Denver Post, with at least one instance blocking multiple lanes of traffic. No reports of injuries have surfaced, but damage to at least one truck was severe enough to warrant towing.
South of Wellington, after the closure prior to 12:45 p.m. MST, traffic began to quickly back up on the offramp. The closure initially lasted until 2:25 p.m., but the highway was again closed less than an hour after reopening. Travelers were at last free to continue their journey unhindered by 3:45 p.m.
The Colorado DOT barred light vehicles and empty trucks from using the stretch of U.S. 285 between Fairplay and Kenosha for much of the afternoon.
As odd as it is to see more than a dozen semis flipped on the same section of highway in a single afternoon, it hardly compares to an August incident in Arkansas, when a truck carrying frozen pizza collided with a low overpass, scattering its contents across Interstate 30.
While Wyoming caught our attention back in September, when it was discovered to be the state with the most road fatalities, Colorado has largely avoided attention for abnormal crashes or road conditions. The state did vote to ban "rolling coal" back in May, a move which Maryland copied later in the month, but the rectangular state largely avoids getting itself in the news for bad road conditions.
Given the proximity to Thanksgiving, which we know to be the most dangerous holiday on which to drive, there may yet be unpleasant news coming in the wake of the national holiday. Stay safe, people.
