DENVER, Colorado – Parts of the Denver metro area were pummeled by hail last night, with golf ball to tennis ball sized balls of ice raining down from the sky. According to Denver 7, the storms began around 9:30pm on Thursday, May 30, hitting areas in the Northeast Denver metro and around Denver International Airport.
The immense amount of hail left what looked like a layer of snow on parts of the city, covering roads and fields with white. Thunderstorm warnings were issued throughout the night, with the National Weather Service issuing a destructive hail storm warning around 10:15pm.
According to the National Weather Service, the largest balls of hail officially reported were 2.75 inches in magnitude. Several other reports had balls above 2 inches, and plenty more saw balls well over one inch. Hail is considered severe when the stones are over one inch in diameter.
On a personal note, I was on a bike ride south of Denver last night right as the storms were getting going, and could see the storm up north. Just consistent lightning strikes in a very spooky looking cloud. Fortunately it stayed north and neither I nor my residence was touched by the hail. I’m not considering myself lucky yet, there’s still plenty of chances for a storm to head south of the city.
