This is not snow. It's hail, a whole bunch of it.
We had a pretty good size storm cell roll through here from about 1800 to 1830, and we got dumped on. The mix of rain and hail formed little islands of hail in the street, and the rain water swept clear channels on it's way to the gutter.
And the backyard had quite a bit of hail in it, forming one 'deposit' that's stained by all the dirt it stirred up in one of the several large bare spots in the yard.
Knocked the petals off the tulips in front, too, and beat the snot out of my little maple tree.
The iris' made it, probably sheltered by the house. These also bloomed about two weeks ago, like the tulips, so the blooms were getting a bit 'tired' anyway before Mother Nature decided things needed a little pruning.
My wife was dog-sitting last week at the Country House in Bellvue while the kids were visiting their maternal Grandmother so Great-Grandma could meet the three new little ones.
The house is the one that got battered last year about this time by a big hailstorm.
The roof got through that storm, but the siding looked like somebody opened up on it with an M-60. Anyway....the siding has been replaced, and the roof, while it was still "OK", also got replaced, but this time with a steel roof. My said it was pretty loud when it was raining there last week, so I can imagine what it was like getting hailed on.
This wasn't a particularly big storm, but it developed very fast, and came roaring up the I-25 corridor. This morning we were at a "10% chance" of thunderstorms, and by early afternoon it was a 40% chance. I'm not sure what time they posted the Severe Weather advisory, but by 1730 it was up.
I grew up with fast developing, fast hitting storms like this, and when I got out of the car from a grocery run, I looked South, saw how dark it had gotten in about 20 minutes, and chuckled about the "40% chance".
I'm waiting for Summer, when the Super Boomers come up out of nowhere......
Summer brings what is called the "Albuquerque Low" condition and we get thunderstorms with tops reaching 70,000 feet. When they stall over the foothills epic floods result. Hwy 34 from Loveland to Estes Park is due to open Thursday. Two years to repair that flood damage.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago we were out here in the summer. When we came out of the kid's place in Bellvue, I looked to the East and saw some of the biggest thunderheads I'd ever seen. As soon as I started the car the weather alert tone came on the radio and said to get outta Dodge if you were in Weld County.
DeleteOur in-law contractor dreads getting jobs in Estes Park. They always pay more, but it adds several hours, each way, to your travel time. Good to hear they're going to open it back up right in time to get washed out again....
We got out lucky over here... about 10 minutes of dime sized hail. 6 miles away, golf ball to tennis ball sized!!!
ReplyDelete"Dime sized" describes it pretty well. The stuff that battered the kid's place last year was much bigger.
DeleteLast summer I was on my motorcycle when I was hit by dime sized hail while driving about 70 on the freeway. It got my attention.
ReplyDeleteNever been hit by hail on a bike, but big rain drops give new meaning to the term "Hard Water".
DeleteAnd a big June Bug will about knock you off the bike.....
Nasty stuff.
ReplyDeleteI don't think of Colorado as tornado country. Do they stay east of you?
WSF tells me there's an arrangement with Mother Nature hat keeps most of the really bad weather East of the I-25, about 5~6 miles out of town.
DeleteThere's been a couple that clobbered us some years ago.
You're almost out of it...I have seen it snow lightly in early June though...
ReplyDeleteThe last time we came out here in May we arrived just after a big, wet, heavy snow. The National Guard was called out to help remove all the branches that broke off the trees and were laying across roads.
DeleteGlad you are all ok, hail can do a lot of damage!
ReplyDeleteLove summer thunder boomers...