Dustbowl-era skies, threatening clouds, and next-to-nil visibility was the picture Mother Nature painted for Montezuma County Tuesday morning.

Local meteorologist Jim Andrus reported that the wind blew at a consistent speed of 50 mph for over an hour at the Cortez-Montezuma County Airport and gusted at times to 60 mph. The winds slackened off around 12:30 p.m., and at this point, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, according to Andrus.

The cold front that accompanied this phenomenon also reportedly brought blizzard conditions to Egnar, in San Miguel County; rain and snow in Arriola, and a hailstorm to Dolores.

At times the wind combined with fire to create havoc in Cortez and the surrounding areas. Local fire crews were kept hopping as the wind fanned a number of blazes throughout the day, including some controlled-burns that quickly became out of control. Crews responded to scenes on County Road N and near McPhee Trailer Park on Colorado Highway 184.

Another fire, reported later in the afternoon, demolished a structure on County Road P. The conflagration posed a serious threat to the nearby canyon area, but was contained by firefighters.

North of Dolores, the wind challenged motorists attempting to keep their vehicles under control and downed several trees on Highway 145, one of which struck a pickup truck. Andrus attributed this to the geography of the Dolores River Valley, the narrow shape of which funnels winds and makes them more severe.

Wind also caused damage to a number of structures in the area. It launched a tree onto the residence of Mary Burns of Dolores.

"I didn’t realize it had happened," Burns said, "until I looked up and saw a mess of branches in the window."

The house was built in 1909, and the shallow-rooted blue spruce was planted in 1911. Before being uprooted, it stood approximately 100 feet tall.

Winds also claimed a roof at the Lakeside Village Mobile Home Park, and peeled off the siding of an outbuilding located on Downey School property.

A toppled utility pole graphically illustrated how modern conveniences can be inconvenienced by forces of nature. The incident occurred near the McDonald’s Restaurant, where the wind tipped a pole at a 30-degree slant. A witness said that the pole was held aloft by the wires, which were in turn grounded against a building. Traffic was blocked for several minutes as police and power crews responded.

Not even signage was spared from the ravages of the wind. A local mobile home sales office found its sign plastered to the roof of another building. Andrus also reported that a directional sign where U.S.Highways 160 and 666 converge was blown down at its base and was removed by county road crews.

Other wind damage was bizarre: An officer "clocked" a trash can at 24 mph as it spun ferociously down the street, and farmers reported to dispatch that a number of irrigation devices were being blown all over their fields.