Critter Sitter's Blog: Huge Storm in Denver

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Huge Storm in Denver

While there was a tremendous storm in Denver yesterday afternoon, right at the height of rush hour traffic, Boulder escaped with clouds, thunder and lightning, and a few drops of rain. We did have threatening clouds from about 3 p.m. until well after 10, as storms passed overhead and dodged around us. Nedi spent most of the time curled up inside his closet hidey-hole, while Lovey went back and forth between my lap and the window. We didn't even have enough rain to dampen the grass thoroughly.
Denver, on the other hand, had torrential rain, lots of funnel clouds, and lots of hail. Depending on where a person was located in metropolitan Denver, they got anywhere from .25 inches of rain, to 2.25 inches of rain in less than an hour. Most of the hail that fell was the size of quarters, while some areas saw hail the size of golf balls. Multiple funnel clouds were spotted in various neighborhoods, and photos were taken. Straight-line winds knocked trees down, and/or broke them in half. Because of the deluge of sudden rain, there was localized street flooding - and the local creeks and rivers overflowed their banks again. The hail stripped leaves from trees, and decimated flowers and gardens.
Yesterday was Bike to Work Day throughout Colorado. A lot of businesses had set up refreshment tents along bike paths, in parks, and in other open bike-riding areas. They had served folks on their way in to work in the morning, and most were still set up to offer water and refreshments for the ride back home. Most of those tents and pavilions were destroyed by the rain, hail, and wind yesterday. Weather forecasters were begging people to find cover and stay there until the storm was over - and also warning that it might take several hours for traffic to clear enough for people at home to drive into the downtown area to pick up the stranded bicyclists.