Hail — Broomfield, Colorado

2009-07-20 · near Broomfield, Broomfield, Colorado

Wider weather episode

A severe thunderstorm produced damaging winds, large hail and very heavy rain across the western and southern suburbs of Denver. Widespread damage was observed in the cities of Arvada, Wheat Ridge and Lakewood. The intense straightline winds were the result of a wet microburst which downed hundreds of trees and snapped power poles. Winds gusts to 80 mph were reported along with nickel to golfball size hail. The combination of wind and hail produced widepread damage to homes and vehicles. The damage claim estimates totaled $350 million; about 32,900 claims were filed for homes, while another 19,500 claims were for vehicles. As many as 90,000 homes and businesses were left without power. In some areas it took up to 3 days to completely restore electrical service. Minor injuries were reported from broken glass during the storm, but no one was hospitalized. The storm crippled the computers at the Colorado Crime Information Center in Lakewood for nearly 3 hours. One weak tornado was also observed.

In Larimer and Weld Counties, severe thunderstorms produced widepread damage over approximately 150 square miles of farmland. In all, 400 farms were directly impacted by severe weather. Damage to crops alone was estimated to be around $4 million; most of the damage was observed in Weld County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.9200, -105.0800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 182073. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.