DENVER (AP) — Thunderstorms swept along the Front Range and eastern Colorado plains Wednesday, producing golf ball- and baseball-size hail, several reports of tornadoes and strong winds that demolished a barn.
Hail pounded parts of the northeast Denver area, breaking car windshields, Adams County Sheriff's Sgt. Candi Baker said. Several accidents were reported, but Baker said she didn't know the extent of the injuries.
The bark and limbs were stripped from trees in the area. Plows cleared piles of hail so thick that they looked like snow. People also shoveled the ice out of the way.
Cars and homes in the area were battered by hail, some of it as large as baseballs, said Chris Dickey, spokesman for the police department in the north-Denver suburb of Commerce City. Dickey told The Denver Post it's too early to place a monetary figure on the losses, but added: "It is really bad."
The Denver area and eastern plains remained under thunderstorm and tornado watches and warnings Wednesday night. Roads were flooded in areas around Hudson and Keenseburg, 35 miles northeast of Denver, where up 2 inches of rain fell in 45 minutes.
ADVERTISEMENT
In southern Colorado, golf-ball size hail struck Pueblo and heavy rains flooded city streets. Larimer County in northern Colorado got pelted with pea-size hail.
About 60 miles north of Denver, a barn in Windsor was demolished by the wind, fire department Brenda Stroman said. Residents reported a tornado hit the ground, but fire officials didn't see it, Stroman said.
An earlier report of damage to a train in the Fort Lupton area was inaccurate, Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez said.
A tornado was sighted in Greeley, but police Sgt. Joe Tymkowych said there were no immediate reports of damage.
Denver International Airport experienced 30- to 60-minute delays Wednesday afternoon because severe weather limited use of its six runways. Airport spokeswoman Laura Jackson said planes were taking off on two runways and arriving on just one.
No tornadoes touched down on airport property, she said.
