Jeff Lawson
EF3
I took a direct hit from last night's Denver storm here in extreme SW Littleton. Alas, my garden didn't survive. Those pots used to be so full of flowers and vegetation that you couldn't see the soil below. Everything was pulverized by the combination of marble size hail and 50-60 mph winds. In some spots, you'd wonder if anything had been planted there in the first place. There's nothing left.
I've experienced "machine gun" hail, so to speak, in a chase setting before, but this was really something. The amount, intensity, and near horizontal trajectory of the hail within the core was really incredible. Furthermore, the hail roar as the storm approached was one of the loudest I've ever heard. A minute or two before the onslaught began, I actually started to worry a bit, as the storm was tornado warned at the time and I was getting that "something's about to happen" sensation similar to when you're a little too close in a chase situation. That sensation can be invigorating when you're sitting on the side of the road in rural Kansas, but it's mostly unnerving when you're sitting at home.
Throughout the neighborhood, daylight revealed a lot of shredded trees and vegetation, a few medium sized trees snapped off near the base, and plenty of hail drifts that managed to survive the night. I didn't notice any damage to automobiles, thankfully... I suppose marbles can only do so much.
For what it's worth, I've noticed a tendency for storms that initially develop in Larimer/Boulder County and then barrel due south paralleling the foothills to go absoultely nuts upon reaching the western Denver suburbs. There might be a case study in this somewhere.
