There were no official reports of tornado touchdowns, but the National Weather Service said the hail was 2 to 3 inches deep on the ground in Thornton on Wednesday afternoon. It was no bigger than three-quarters of an inch in diameter, but it was so widespread that plows were used to clear the roads in the north suburbs.
As the rain continued into the evening, street flooding was reported in Thornton and some routes were temporarily closed.
Rain showers will linger over the Front Range foothills until the weekend and could create flash floods, especially in areas raked clean by destructive wildfires.
Denver already has received almost a half inch more rain than it normally receives in May, with the potential for another inch of rain by the weekend - and another Pacific storm teed up for Colorado next week.
Authorities are monitoring recent wildfire-burn areas in Boulder and Larimer counties for flooding.
The Fourmile Canyon fire charred more than 6,100 acres west of Boulder in September. A week later, the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland burned 750 acres, and in April, the Crystal fire consumed almost 3,000 acres west of Fort Collins.
A flash-flood watch was in effect until midnight Wednesday for the northern foothills, and rain chances in the area are 90 percent today and 60 percent Friday.
Meanwhile, the slow-moving storm could leave up to 18 more inches of snow in the northern Colorado mountains by the weekend, lifting snowpack in some areas above 200 percent of their 30-year average.
Repeated winter storms and mountain temperatures 10 to 20 degrees colder than normal have allowed only a fraction of the normal spring melt.
The high-country runoff usually peaks by the second week in June, raising worries that the late season could mean record flooding, avalanches and mudslides.
© denverpost
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