‘A baseball bat to my roof:’ Old Colorado City residents and visitors ride out a hail- and rain-filled afternoon
OLD COLORADO CITY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Severe thunderstorms swept through southern Colorado on Thursday, bringing hail, lightning, gusty winds and heavy flooding to the region.
The rapid change in weather triggered brief but intense conditions, including in Old Colorado City, where severe hail and flash flooding impacted local streets and residential neighborhoods. The rapid weather changes caught residents and out-of-town visitors by surprise as storm clouds rolled in in the afternoon.
Old Colorado City resident Kelci Hunter was sitting in his home's sunroom when the heavy storm began. Hunter described the sound of heavy hail impacting the metal roof as the storm rapidly intensified.
“All of a sudden it just felt like someone was taking a baseball bat to my roof,” Hunter said. “I was sitting in our sunroom, and it has a metal roof. So I thought that thing was about to come down. We have visitors here from Germany, Wisconsin, and Texas. And they were like, what's going on here?”
The heavy downpour and hail hit Old Colorado City for 10 to 15 minutes, causing sudden water buildup along roads.
Hunter's visitors included sisters Bri Spicer, Rhi Spicer and Honey Hargrave, who were experiencing a hailstorm for the first time. The trio watched the storm escalate as hail grew larger and struck nearby vehicles and buildings.
“It was quite the kaboom, I would say, for the most part and multiple times over,” Bri Spicer said. “We were kind of making a guess of when which windshield was going to crack on the street.”
Hargrave was surprised as the ice fell.
“At first it was small and then we saw the hail got bigger. I mean, like, 'Oh, shoot, what's going to happen?'” Hargrave said.
Rhi Spicer says the experience was a first for her.
“I have never really been around hail before, so it was crazy for me to hear suddenly like, dun dun dun dun dun on this on the roof of our house,” she said. “And our roof has had some troubles in the past. So we were also a little worried about, like, is it going to break today?”
In addition to hail, the severe weather created swift street flooding through the area. Water rushed down local roadways, creating hazards for passing vehicles.
“I would say the flooding was scarier,” Hargrave said. “We saw it like rushing down the street.”
Hunter noted that several vehicles struggled to navigate through the high water moving along the road.
“It was like a river,” Hunter said. “It was like the Mississippi River running down the street. There were cars that were going over the street, and they looked like they were going to get stuck.”
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