Power Outage in Aurora, CO

Intense winds knocked over shallow rooted trees and numerous power poles.

Strong winds from a thunderstorm blew down a tree. The tree fell onto a power line and caused a small fire.

Severe thunderstorms produced six short-lived tornadoes across northeast Weld and Morgan counties. Two of those landspouts were rated as EF1. In Weld County, the tornado downed several trees and power poles. In Morgan County, some oak trees were shredded and a power pole was snapped. Across Douglas, Elbert and northern Lincoln counties, severe thunderstorms produced large hail, from quarter to half dollar size. Strong thunderstorm wind gusts to 60 mph were reported along highway 71, south of Limon.

Severe thunderstorms brought damaging tornadoes, straight-line winds, large hail and heavy rain across northeast Colorado. A total of 4 tornadoes touched down and impacted the communities of Brush, Hillrose, and Snyder. An EF-2 tornado struck the east side of Brush and caused significant damage to the Brush Airport and turned semi-trucks on their side on U.S. 34. Highway 34, was closed near the Morgan-Washington county line due to debris and downed power lines. In Hillrose and Snyder moderate damage to structures included: roofs, windows, siding, broken trees, power lines and piles down. In Snyder, the town hall was also damaged and some roadways were inundated with over 3 feet of standing water. In Snyder, a tornado touched down in the Pinneno feedlot, which injured and killed livestock. Heavy agricultural damage to crops was reported and pivots were destroyed. ||In Morgan County, over 200 poles down were knocked down and caused extensive power outages across the area. Those affected by the tornados were expected to be without power for up to 2 days. Approximately 20 people suffered mainly minor injuries. The hail ranged in size from quarter to baseball size, and produced peak wind gusts to around 75 mph. Multiple road closures were reported around Morgan County due to flooded roadways and downed power lines. As the storm continued east, near-zero visibility rain fell in Akron, which was accompanied by strong winds. In the southern portion of Washington County, the storm produced hail up to baseball size south of Anton. There was also widely spread damage to crops, vehicles, roofs, siding, and windows. In Greeley, reports of damage included broken windshields and destroyed gardens.

Five tornadoes touched down, three of those produced damage on an EF-1 scale. South of Byers, a tornado took to roof off a manufactured home and partially destroyed an outbuilding. The tornado flipped a UPS truck end over end and injured the driver. The second tornado near Ponderosa Park uprooted several trees. The third tornado near Deer Trail tossed a cattle feeder approximately one-quarter of a mile, blew over some farm equipment and blew out the windows of a home. In addition to the tornadoes, severe thunderstorms produced hail up to golf ball size, heavy rain along with some minor |flooding. Multiple power lines were downed and Eads experienced a power outage.

Severe thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds over Arapahoe, Sedgwick, and Washington counties. In Sedgwick County, storm damage included an irrigation pivot that overturned at county roads 21 through 34 between Ovid and Sedgwick. Severe crop damage was also observed with minor flooding to county roads. Intense straight-line winds near Julesburg knocked down power poles and caused outages. A tornado touched down briefly in an open field. ||In Washington County, a combination of large hail up to half dollar size and strong winds shattered windows and damaged the siding of a house near Elba. Straight-line winds 60 to 70 mph stripped trees and flattened crops in the immediate area. Many wheat fields were damaged by wind and hail in a path that extended from between approximately county roads 17 and 30. There was also an abandoned barn at the intersection of county roads 30 and JJ.

A powerful storm system moved over northeast Colorado on the 13th, then slowly exited into the Central Plains on the 14th. The storm produced blizzard conditions over the far northeastern plains of Colorado, with high winds elsewhere. Snow and blowing snow produced extensive drifting snow up to 7 feet deep, along with near zero visibility. The dangerous conditions made the roads impassable and stranded motorists over northeast Lincoln, Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, and Washington counties. Consequently, I-76 east of Sterling, I-70 east of Limon and nearly all other roads and highways across Northeast and East-Central Colorado were closed due to hazardous driving conditions. In total, more than a dozen semi-trucks were blown over. Eight semi trucks west of Akron, along Colorado Highway 34 were blown over. Blizzard conditions made it nearly impossible to get tow trucks to accidents and rescue stranded motorists. The dangerous conditions also caused widespread power outages and strayed cattle. Some livestock was lost, mainly calves.||Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted in the Hugo and Limon areas. A large tree, 2.5 ft in diameter, was knocked over in Hugo. Peak wind gusts included: 78 mph at Akron-Washington County Airport, 76 mph at Limon Municipal Airport, 72 mph in Hugo and Sterling, 71 mph near Bennett and Genoa, 65 mph at Briggsdale, 62 mph, 7 miles northwest of Boyero and Denver International Airport; 60 mph, 8 miles south of Holyoke and near Wiggins; 59 mph near Keenesburg, 12 miles east-northeast of Kiowa, 7 miles south of Shamrock and Woodlin School; 58 mph at Agate, Front Range Airport in Watkins, Kassler and 11 miles west-northwest of Westplains. Snowfall totals ranged from 4 to 10 inches.

A thunderstorm produced damaging downburst winds which snapped a power pole. A weak short-lived landspout also touched down and tossed around some lawn furniture.

Severe thunderstorms produced large hail ranging from quarter to baseball size. In addition, intense thunderstorm winds downed power poles and one brief tornado was reported.

A storm system that moved through the area produced large hail, up to golfball size, and street flooding in parts of the metro area then spread east into the plains. The hailstorm was the most costly of the summer season with with insured losses topping $213.3 million, according to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.|Insurance claims included 29,297 automobile claims worth more than $87.2 million and 14,287 property claims for $126 million, ranking the storm as the eighth most expensive to hit the state. The storm also caused multiple accidents. A semi became detached from a trailer, blocking traffic on westbound Interstate 70 west of Tower Road. Downed power poles blocked a roadway on CO 79 near Bennett, at mile marker 10. In addition to the damaging winds, the storms produced large hail, from nickel to golfball size. The intense thunderstorm winds also downed trees near Fort Morgan. Flash flooding was reported over parts of northern Washington County. The combination of flash flooding and an accident involving a semi-trailer forced the closure of CO 61 for a several hours.

Severe thunderstorms broke out across the northeast plains of Colorado. Large hail, ranging from quarter to baseball size, damaging thunderstorm winds and three short lived tornadoes. Intense straight-line winds downed trees and power lines across Washington, Sedgwick and Phillips Counties. In addition, a barn, grain bins and a transmission tower were extensively damaged.

An upper level weather disturbance and its associated cold front moved across northern Colorado during the late morning and afternoon; spawning several tornadoes, damaging wind, large hail, very heavy rainfall. Nine tornadoes touched down across northeast Colorado. Three of the tornadoes occurred in Park County, at elevations of 8,000-10,000 feet. The first tornado occurred 8 miles south-southwest of Fairplay; it damaged the roof of a residence and was assigned a rating of EF-1. The second tornado developed 6 miles southeast of Fairplay in open country. The third tornado developed 4 miles west of Lake George; it was given a rating of EF-2. The last tornado caused damage to some homes and overturned several recreational vehicles at an RV park. Several power lines were also downed and some buildings in the town of Lake George were damaged, and trees were also snapped from their bases. This tornado then passed into Teller County. ||In Aurora, another tornado touched down near the Blackstone Country Club, it lifted some golf carts and flipped an empty construction trailer. One of the carts was thrown on top of a caddy walking nearby; he was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. It was assigned an EF-1 rating. Five other tornadoes developed over open country across Douglas, Elbert and Weld Counties with little additional damage reported. In Englewood, lightning struck a tree which damaged two nearby homes and a truck. Large hail, up to half dollar size, very heavy rain, and minor flooding was also reported.

Severe thunderstorm winds downed power poles which caused scattered to numerous outages in central Arapahoe County. Some property damage was also observed. Large hail, up to ping pong size, was also reported.

Severe thunderstorms produced heavy rain and damaging winds across parts of Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Washington and Weld Counties. The strong winds downed trees and power lines. In addition, two tornadoes touched down. One of the tornadoes destroyed half of a barn. Heavy rain produced flash flooding in Fort Morgan.

Severe thunderstorms produced large hail, strong winds and tornadoes across parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert, Morgan and Weld Counties. The hail, up to half dollar size, came down so heavy along parts of Interstates 70 and 76 that snowplows had to be called out to remove it. In Weld and Morgan Counties, very heavy rain and hail accompanied thunderstorm winds up to 75 mph. The heavy rain caused some street flooding in parts of Greeley. Approximately 1300 residents lost power briefly in the towns of Johnston and Milliken. Two brief tornados were observed in Adams and Elbert Counties but no damage was reported. Several minor accidents were reported with snowpacked and slick road conditions along with very low visibilities.

Several landspout tornadoes developed along a boundary to the southeast of the Denver metropolitan area. In northwest Elbert County, minor damage was reported. The damage consisted of downed power lines, broken windows and a damaged out building. Severe thunderstorms also produced very heavy rain and hail, up to the size of quarters. ||In Douglas County, heavy rain caused flash flooding near the town of Westcreek. Private drives to residences in the Trail Creek subdivision were washed out. A mudslide closed State Highway 67, near Rainbow Falls Road. The road in the YMCA Camp Shady Brook was also washed out and bridges were damaged. In the camp, the gullies carved by the floodwaters were 6 feet wide by 5 feet deep.

A lightning strike knocked out power to Hughes Stadium; after hitting a transformer. It delayed the start of the Colorado State University-Air Force football game. The outage lasted approximately 10 minutes and affected 135 Xcel customers. Thunderstorms east and south of Denver also produced hail up to nickel size.

A storm system wound itself up over Southeast Colorado, allowing for heavy snow and rain to develop over much of North-Central and Northeast Colorado. Severe thunderstorms preceded the storm system on the 23rd, affecting the Urban Corridor and Northeast Plains. Severe weather included: large hail; up to golfball size, damaging thunderstorm winds and several small tornadoes. |On the 24th, heavy snow fell in the foothills west of Denver and Boulder, where storm totals ranged from 1 to 2 feet. Heavy snow also occurred along the Palmer Divide, with storm totals from 10 to 16 inches. Elsewhere, a steady moderate to heavy rainfall was reported. Denver International Airport measured 1.64 inches of precipitation, which broke the single day record for the 24th of April. A few short lived tornadoes also developed over Lincoln County, in the vicinity of the surface cyclone. |The heavy wet snow caused several power outages. In some instances, it took several days to restore power. Several road closures were reported, including Interstates 25 and 70. A jackknifed semi-trailer backed up traffic for nearly 20 miles; on southbound I-25, between Denver and Colorado Springs. In addition, a 50-ton boulder blocked the southbound lane of State Highway 285, near Parmalee Gulch. Crews had to use explosives to break up the boulder and clear the debris. Stranded buses and impassable roadways also forced several school closures.