Wild weather hit Colorado hard on Monday, but perhaps nowhere more fiercely than in Colorado Springs, where an unusual windstorm with hurricane-force gusts left a trail of destruction and danger that shuttered the city’s public transit system, forced Fort Carson soldiers to shelter in place and toppled dozens of trees onto houses.

Thousands of homes and businesses were left without power and schools were shut down because of lack of electricity and flying debris. The 28,000-student Colorado Springs School District 11 canceled afternoon bus service, saying it was following a state ban on high-profile vehicles issued out of fear buses carrying students would blow over.

At the district’s Roy J. Wasson Academic Campus, a tree fell over onto two students, leaving them with minor injuries, district spokeswoman Devra Ashby said.

Be careful if outside today and watch out for falling trees. This one fell this morning on campus. pic.twitter.com/aVh1HBK5h5 — RJWAC (@RJWACD11) January 9, 2017

City and county officials said they had yet to tally a cost for the damage and likely won’t know the tab for days, but expect it to be high.

“This is one of the worst windstorms I’ve seen in my 34 years with the department,” Colorado Springs Police Department Lt. Howard Black said. “It’s an extremely active event throughout the city, with downed power lines, downed trees in roadways. There is widespread property damage and windows blown out of parked cars.”

The winds — which were also strong in the Denver and Boulder areas — accompanied a weather system that is expected to bring several feet of snow to some high-country locations, including Crested Butte and Aspen. It’s the remnants of a powerful winter storm that dumped feet of snow and rain, causing heavy flooding in northern California and Nevada.

“There’s a strong upper-level jet that’s kind of poking into our region now associated with the system that gave California heavy rains,” said Bill Line, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo. “Now it’s kind of over us. It’s not too common for (the winds) to set up so that it would be this prolonged and this widespread.”

Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs said it has seen a number of patients in its emergency department seeking treatment for wind-related falls. Several tractor-trailers were overturned on Interstate 25 in the southern Colorado squalls, which reached over 100 mph at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Station.

The weather service also clocked gusts at 77 mph at the U.S. Air Force Academy and 72 mph in Manitou Springs. In Broomfield, winds hit 68 mph and Boulder saw a gale of 63 mph. The winds are expected to die down Tuesday evening.

Unbelievable: The wind literally ripped a family's ENTIRE roof off while they were sleeping. This is the heartbreaking aftermath @KOAA pic.twitter.com/rK7kIEh2U0 — Lena Howland (@LenaHowland) January 9, 2017

The El Paso County courthouse closed and was evacuated about 10:15 a.m. Monday and all court dates were canceled because of extensive roof damage that sent debris flying into a nearby intersection. The building is expected to be closed on Tuesday as well.

“We actually can’t get on the roof of the judicial building yet because it is so dangerous,” El Paso County spokesman Dave Rose said. “The wind is so bad that it’s not safe to be up there. Right now if you got on there, you would be blown off.”

Rose said most county buildings have been damaged by the storm and that officials are hoping to get a cost estimate on Tuesday. Then they will evaluate whether El Paso County is eligible for some kind of disaster assistance money.

“I certainly think we will have more than $1 million worth of damage,” he said. “There are trees down everywhere. There is going to be a lot more damage to citizens’ property than county. We’ve got trees down on houses all over town.”

At Fort Carson, where damage was also widespread, officials ordered a shelter in place because of blowing debris. The Mountain Post warned: “Do not go outside unless it is an emergency.”

Pictures and video from Colorado Springs showed trees falling onto homes, a gas station canopy wavering in the wind and a church where part of the roof had blown off. Colorado Parks and Wildlife shuttered Cheyenne Mountain State Park after a camper housing a mother and children was blown over, leaving a 5-year-old boy with a head laceration.

Wind rocking an already wind-damaged 7-11 on B st in Colo Spgs @csgazette #cowx pic.twitter.com/a8JIljAnkz — Mark Reis (@markereis) January 9, 2017

Capt. Steve Wilch, of the Colorado Springs Fire Department, said his agency logged a 300 percent increase in calls for service on Monday.

“Since the wind advisory was issued at 5 a.m. this morning, as of about 1 p.m. our dispatch had received 1,151 calls,” he said. “We’ve had everything from down power lines to roofs blowing off buildings to structure fires and grass fires. The clean up is going to go well into Tuesday. It could even be weeks.”

Wilch said 12 extra units had been deployed to deal with downed trees.

All commercial vehicles are barred from traveling on Interstate 25 between Monument and the New Mexico state line on Monday because of the winds.

Section of roof blown off church sanctuary | No injuries pic.twitter.com/GCaj9eeOtg — CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) January 9, 2017

The gusts have been strong in the Denver area on Monday, as well, causing widespread flight delays at Denver International Airport and some damage north of the city.

Airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay for planes heading into the hub, meaning they were held at their origin for a period of time. “They’re trying to space out the aircraft.”

Due to high winds some delays are likely this morning. Please check your flight status #cowx — Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport) January 9, 2017

Many arriving flights were showing delays north of an hour. The FAA warned the gusty, westerly winds could slow flights in Denver, but did not say for how long.

The National Weather Service in Boulder issued a high wind warning for the Front Range foothills until 5 p.m. on Monday.

“Powerful, westerly flow aloft will produce very strong and gust Chinook winds in and near the Front Range foothills today,” the weather service said in its warning. “Wind gusts of 75 to 90 mph are expected in areas prone to high winds, such as along the Peak to Peak Highways, the canyons of Larimer, Boulder and Jefferson counties, and the Rocky Flats and Carter Lake areas.”

Big time issues w wind today. High profile vehicles beware of Mother Nature's strength. — CSP Castle Rock (@CSP_CastleRock) January 9, 2017

At DIA, gusts were forecast to reach near 50 mph, according to the weather service, with sustained winds between 16 mph and 25 mph.

Boulder County Sheriff’s division chief Heidi Prentup told The Daily Camera that the winds had knocked down trees and telephone lines across the county, leading to traffic hazards. She also said that one driver was injured when a sign that had fallen down crashed into the car’s window

A winter storm warning is in effect for much of the high country and Western Slope through Tuesday morning — including places like Steamboat Springs, Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge, Rocky Mountain National Park and Crested Butte — where up to 3 feet of snow is expected at higher elevations before the storm system moves out.

The Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol have asked mountain motorists to take it slow.