As it’s now the month of May, the northern hemisphere is gearing up for sunnier days. But not so fast: spare a thought for the poor people of Colorado, who yesterday were hit by a mega hailstorm.
And the next minute golf ball sized hail. #denver #weather #hail pic.twitter.com/Ew2LwTHpjH
— Austin Johnson (@aJayBolder) May 8, 2017
And these hailstones really weren’t messing about – check out the size of these bad boys.
Hail damage being reported throughout the metro area. #9WX #cowx #Denver pic.twitter.com/dendPcFn36
— Al Bree (@nlitenmebabe) May 9, 2017
This hail stone (approx golf ball size) fell around 3 hours ago in Villa Park Neighborhood, Denver, CO. #cowx #hail #denver pic.twitter.com/sMVLq6O4V9
— geoffdmiller (@geoffdmiller) May 9, 2017
The largest hailstone reported by the National Weather Service was a whopping 2.75 inches in diameter.
Hail that did some considerable damage to skylights & cars in Denver today. #Hailno pic.twitter.com/VquCnDLSQO
— MickD (@mickd415) May 9, 2017
The hail that came down randomly today in Denver, Colorado pic.twitter.com/pFVp4e5nA5
— neelie gr (@neeliegr) May 9, 2017
Everybody seemed to have the same idea: to hold the huge hailstones in their hands to give a sense of scale. This is definitely smart thinking, but how cold would their hands have got?
@JoeVigil Nasty storm in Denver metro. This was a "small" one. Closed a mall cause of flooding. Roads flooded and or completely covered hail pic.twitter.com/ZQmS815lv2
— Shawn Bear Tyrrell (@ShawnTyrrell45) May 9, 2017
This is a picture of the hail that hit in Denver Colorado today! pic.twitter.com/Wt31p4mJSe
— Clinton Kowach (@clintonkowach) May 9, 2017
According to the Met Office: “Hail is solid precipitation in the form of balls or pieces of ice known as hailstones.” Unlike snow, the way they are formed in cumulonimbus clouds means that they don’t have time to melt before they reach the ground.
@DawnDavenportTN Denver hail yesterday pic.twitter.com/lwPvIajIJq
— Erin Smith (@tn_ernie) May 9, 2017
Look out! Golf ball size hail. Lasted about 5 minutes. #cowx pic.twitter.com/MR7e20JV4l
— Sergeant Mullins (@CSP_Recruiter) May 8, 2017
Here is the ground of the major league baseball team the Colorado Rockies. Nope, it’s not snow carpeting the field: that’s hail. Chances are they weren’t practising outside yesterday.
Rather than just being an annoyance that calls off play, the hailstorm has actually proved to be destructive. Helpless cars left outside were in great danger of having their windscreens smashed – undoubtedly an unwelcome surprise for drivers.
Bad enough to damage the heck out of Gus Burgs Maxima at the Johnstown exit @FirstAlert7 @DenverChannel #hail pic.twitter.com/OTpar8twcf
— Major King (@MajorDenver7) May 8, 2017
This car suffered even worse – the window was okay, but the body of the car couldn’t say the same.
Luckily, no injuries were reported and the storm has since abated.