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.
Comment: For a more accurate assessment of what's really going on with "global weirding" see our focus article: Connecting the Dots: Earth Changes Are Upon Us