Thunderstorms unleashed hail Monday afternoon in areas across northeastern Colorado including parts of Douglas County, where residents needed snow shovels to clean up after the storm.
Pea-sized hail pelted the Parker area and piled up 3-inches deep, making the streets difficult for drivers to navigate. Residents took to driveways and sidewalks with shovels and vehicle damage was reported. Plow trucks were dispatched to the The Pinery in Douglas County to clean up after the storm.
“It was plowable hail,” National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Fredin said.
Streets are completely covered with hail…
— x-Nathalie Klasens (@NathalieK74)
Other metro areas hit by hail on Monday included Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Denver, Golden, Parker and Castle Rock.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Blanchard was driving by the Outlets at Castle Rock shopping mall, just off I-25, at about 2 p.m. when a deluge of hail hit.
When the hail stopped after a few minutes, “it looked like snow” on the ground, Blanchard said. The sudden storm resulted in a few traffic accidents nearby.
The hail producing thunderstorm worked its way into Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties.
“A farmer in Flagler got golf-ball sized hail, maybe a little bigger,” Fredin said. “This is the time of year we get that.”
The swift-moving hail storm hit areas of Douglas and Arapahoe counties hard, then swept into Elbert and Lincoln counties, Fredin said. As the afternoon thunderstorm rumbled its way east, the storm weakened a bit, but was still producing small hail and brief, but heavy, rains.
The strongest T-storms have pushed eastward while weakening. Thru 9pm, expect scattered showers & storms w/ the strongest storms containing small hail & brief heavy rain.
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
Just before 2 p.m. Monday, the weather service warned of a severe, swift-moving thunderstorm southeast of Denver International Airport with wind gusts of 60 mph and hail the size of quarters.
Earlier on Monday, at least 60 Southwest Airlines flights were canceled because several planes had been damaged by hail that accompanied powerful thunderstorms that rolled through Sunday night. Maintenance teams inspected about 20 planes that were on the ground during the overnight storm, according to Southwest media representatives.
By Monday evening DIA reported that airport operations were back to normal normal.
The high temperature in Denver on Monday topped out at 65 degrees. On Tuesday in the city there’s a 40 percent chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms, according tot he weather service. Skies will be mostly cloudy and the high temperature Tuesday in Denver should be about 71 degrees.
Late day scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected across northeastern Colorado Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday some storms could possibly produce large hail, the weather service said. Wednesday’s weather in Denver, however, should be mostly sunny skies as the high temperature hits about 81 degrees.
