Tornado-warned storm pummels Denver area with large hail
A "particularly dangerous situation" unfolded south of downtown Denver on Thursday afternoon right before the evening commute with hail larger than golf balls and a possible tornado.
A suspected tornado blew through the community of Highlands Ranch on the afternoon of June 22, leaving behind a trail of damage.
A particularly dangerous situation was declared south of downtown Denver Thursday afternoon amid a tornadic storm that tracked miles south of the heart of the city.
A tornado warning was issued across Douglas and Arapahoe counties at 3:30 p.m. MDT, warning of "life-threatening" conditions due to a spotter-confirmed tornado and golf ball-size hail. "This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION," the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Boulder, Colorado, said.
The South Metro Fire Rescue reported it was responding to dozens of calls in Highlands Ranch, south of Colorado Highway 470 between Lucent and Quebec, for storm-related damages. This included roof damage, downed trees, natural gas leaks and electrical problems, but there were no reports of injuries as of 4:13 p.m., MDT.
"We are safe, but it was a big storm," Sherry Eppers, the community relations manager for the Highlands Ranch Metro District, told AccuWeather. "We're seeing damage to trees and fences in several areas of Highlands Ranch."
Over 3,000 customers in Douglas County, where Highlands Ranch is located, were without power Thursday evening following the storms, according to PowerOutage.US.
Flights were also impacted by the storm. At Denver International Airport, over 140 flights were canceled and over 800 others were delayed, according to FlightAware.
Baseball-sized hail pummeled the Denver metro area Thursday afternoon, not even 24 hours after massive hailstones injured nearly 100 concertgoers at the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in a previous storm.
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The NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Colorado towns of Lakewood, Indian Hills and Morrison Thursday afternoon, warning just before 3 p.m. CDT that the "destructive" storm would contain baseball-sized hail. The same storm later moved over the Highlands Ranch area.
Traffic cameras along Colorado State Highway 470 (C-470), one mile west of Morrison, showed the highway covered in hailstones as traffic pushed through.
Traffic cameras along Colorado State Highway 470 (C-470), one mile west of Morrison, showed the highway covered in hailstones as traffic pushed through. (Colorado Department of Transportation)
The NWS office in Boulder released a preliminary damage track of the tornado shortly before 6 p.m. MDT on Thursday. The estimated length of the path was 6.3 miles, starting near the Highlands Ranch Golf Club and the Children's Hospital Colorado South Campus and tracking eastward to the city limits of Lone Tree, Colorado. The NWS gave the tornado a preliminary rating of EF1 and said it had peak winds of 97 mph.
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