Hail that measured more than an inch in diameter pelted Longmont Wednesday afternoon, while some Boulder County cities dodged an icy bullet, receiving only rain.
Around 4:30 p.m., hail measuring 1.5 inches in diameter poured down on Longmont, hitting the west and north sides of the city the hardest, according to Scott Entrekin , a National Weather Service meteorologist for northeastern Colorado. Louisville residents also experienced hail, measuring roughly an inch in diameter.
“Anything more than an inch or greater is considered pretty large,” Entrekin said.
Meanwhile in Boulder, Entrekin said the city received largely rain and some hail, though much smaller in size than its neighbors to the north experienced.
Tess Webb sent the Times-Call photos of pingpong ball-sized hail she observed at her home, near Colo. 66 and Gay Street.
“I have not had the opportunity to assess the car yet,” Webb said in an email. “I rushed out to move it into the garage when I heard it beating down on the roof.”
Ping pong ball sized #hail in Longmont #cowx pic.twitter.com/lC6X7IXCEM
— Erin Dougherty (@edougherty92) September 11, 2019
Other residents with outdoor plans Wednesday afternoon got caught up in the storm.
Cynthia Navarro, who was out at Roosevelt Park Wednesday evening with her umbrella, said that, though she didn’t see any hail, she did experience a thunderstorm that sounded like “something blew up.”
Jenn Nelson comes to Roosevelt Park every week as a trainer with Camp Gladiator. As Nelson waited out the storm under the large awning, she said some folks opted out of the weekly fitness gathering because of the weather.
“We have 200 members all in (Camp Gladiator) and we had a couple say that they were staying home because of the hail tonight,” Nelson said.
Nelson, who travels from Loveland for the camp, said she experienced heavy rain on her trip.
Commuting from Louisville for Longmont Bike Night, cyclist Bob Woltman said he encoutered some hail on his trip.
“It wasn’t real big and it wasn’t real hard, maybe quarter-sized in a couple of spots,” Woltman said. “It was really intense for just about 10 seconds.”
The Pearcey family, who also were at Longmont Bike Night Wednesday, said they also caught some of the hail.
“It was almost like little snowballs,” said Heidi Pearcey, who lives near Sunset Golf Course, adding she saw pieces mixed in size. Some were tiny, she said, but some were bigger than a quarter.
Fortunately for Boulder County, the storm didn’t stay long, traveling northeast around 5:10 p.m. From there, the storm continued to drop pingpong-ball to even baseball ball-sized hail on neighboring Weld County. Residents in Firestone also reported large hail Wednesday that measured between 1 and 1.75 inches in diameter.
Treste Huse , a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said .10 of an inch of precipitation was recorded in Longmont Wednesday, based on data from Vance Brand Municipal Airport. Boulder saw .08 of an inch in precipitation Wednesday, based on data from the Boulder Municipal Airport.
The forecast calls for sunny skies through the weekend. To learn more about the week’s forecast, visit the National Weather Service’s website.