Thunderstorm brings hail and wind to Boulder and Weld counties – Bou…

A thunderstorm Wednesday afternoon brought large hail and strong wind gusts to eastern Boulder County and Weld County.

David Barjenbruch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, confirmed a NWS employee in Firestone reported 0.75-inch diameter hail on Wednesday afternoon, and 1-inch diameter hail was reported about a mile west of Firestone.

According to a tweet posted at 3:47 p.m., there were likely hail stones larger than 0.75 inches in diameter in the core of the storm, which at the time was moving north-northwest at 25 miles per hour.

An NWS employee in Firestone just reported 0.75″ diameter hail with this storm, and larger stones likely occurring in the core of this storm. Moving NNW at 25 mph. The Mead area is next in the path. #COwx https://t.co/GEfNZL3AOH

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) May 31, 2023

But Barjenbruch said the strongest part of the storm was in Weld County and eastern Boulder County. Most of Boulder saw very little rain, but Lafayette, Erie and some other towns further east saw 0.1 to 0.2 inches of rain as well as some hail.

The most severe wind damage reported from the storm was in Milliken, just southwest of Greeley, Barjenbruch said. Wind gusts of up to 60-64 miles per hour were reported in the area, large trees were reported down, and there was reduced visibility due to dust.

“There was some blowing dust as well on the front end of that storm before the rain got there, which is unusual considering how wet it’s been,” Barjenbruch said. “But the winds are strong enough … it’s Colorado, and if there’s any open fields, they’ll pick up that blowing dust and reduce visibility.”

As of 6:50 pm, Barjenbruch said the storm moved north into Wyoming, but there were other storms developing south and east of Denver. He said Boulder County could see showers and thunderstorms continuing into Wednesday evening as those storms move northwards.