Hail, Tornadoes, Floods Batter Colorado

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NBC News

by ALEXANDER SMITH and JACOB RASCON

Hail the size of grapefruit, heavy rainfall, and several tornadoes caused damage and flooding across parts of the Rockies and Plains overnight into Friday, officials and meteorologists said.

Seven tornadoes were reported in Colorado and one in Kansas, according to the National Weather Service.

The worst hit was the town of Berthoud, Colorado, where up to 25 homes were affected, with more than 12 severely damaged. Trees were uprooted, but the Associated Press reported there were no injuries.

Another tornado touched down southeast of Denver Thursday night and damaged some homes, with heavy rain and hail pounding the area, causing flash floods.

FULL story and video at link.



Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/rockies-plains-hit-grapefruit-sized-hail-tornadoes-flooding-n370361?cid=par-time-article_20150605

[Hotler]

1. We gat hammered around mid-night big time.

It woke my ass up and it went on for almost an hour here in Englewood. I won't have to trim trees for a couple of years. After it was done I could hear the coyotes singing a few blocks over. The hail was only about the size of marbles , but it was coming down in truck loads.

[hlthe2b]

2. This spring and thus far into summer has been a wild ride....

Use those cell phone weather apps, folks. I started out on a walk under mostly sunny skies with my dog and a mile from home got a National Weather Service alert that serious thunder storms with hail and tornado watch were imminent. Literally five minutes later the clouds rolled in along with small.. but increasingly larger hail. We managed to get home drenched, a bit battered, and winded, but I'd planned to go several miles further. At least I got the "heads up" to head home... Technology can be a good thing.

[mountain grammy]

5. Mine phone was yelling at me all evening

for Denver. Up here, we got nothing, but we could see those high boiling clouds and watch the light show from this side of the divide.

[Thor_MN]

3. I don't thin that i have ever this string of words before "Hail the size of grapefruit"

WTH!!

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. Keep safe, Coloradans!

[Gumboot]

6. Here's one o' them grapefruit-y hailstones...

I wouldn't want that landing on my bald spot. Luckily no injuries in Simla, where these were falling yesterday afternoon.

We got hit just after midnight down here in COS, 1/2" hailstones that sounded like a truck tipping a load of gravel on my roof. No tornadoes, though. Small mercies eh?

[MynameisBlarney]

8. That is of skull crushing size.

Did this storm happen anywhere near Colorado Springs? I have a couple of friends out there and it seems like one natural disaster after another out there.
Forest fires, floods, mudslides...Klingenschmidt...

[Gumboot]

9. Simla is 40 miles NE of Colorado Springs...

... and it's on higher ground, so the folks out there get different weather to us most of the year.

Springtime storm clouds roll over from Pikes Peak and gather intensity as they head east. You can often see these giant thunderheads building up as the afternoon gets hotter and hotter, and this one was an absolute monster.

Sadly, Klingenschmidt and the loons who elected him didn't get washed away, but we live in eternal hope.

[fizzgig]

7. the worst was to the south and east of me

but we still got hammered with heavy rain and slightly larger than pea-sized hail. the thunder stressed out my poor kittehs.