DENVER — Hail is one of the costliest weather elements in Colorado; a multi-billion dollar cost.
At the top of the list is a storm event from July of 1990. Denver was slammed by a hail event that cost 1.5 billion dollars.
Just last July a system of severe storms hit Colorado and the region costing another 1.5 billion dollars.
A 1.1 billion dollar hail storm hit the state in July of 2009. Thornton was buried under 8 inches of hail during that event.
That’s a short, but expensive list and is only a small representation of notable hail events.
Here’s more on Colorado hail from the National Weather Service office in Boulder:
Hail forms within storms as liquid water freezes in the cold mid and upper levels of the storms.
In Colorado, hailstones vary from pea size, around 3/8 of an inch in diameter, to softball
size, around 4 1/2 inches in diameter.Hailstones can do tremendous damage to crops, either as large hailstones, or as a large volume of small
hailstones that accumulate to a depth of several inches.Large hail damages vehicles and buildings, and can be life threatening to animals and people.
The National Weather Service issues severe thunderstorm warnings for winds of 58 mph or higher or for
large hail one inch in diameter or larger. When you hear of a severe thunderstorm warning, move to
shelter.
This is part of a series of articles relating to Colorado’s severe weather awareness week. Click for more on:
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