Hail, Adams
- When
- May 22, 10:38 PM MST
- Where
- Adams County, Thornton
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Property damage
- $120 million
- Coordinates
- 39.880, -104.950
Hail in Colorado, May 22, 1996
A severe thunderstorm producing large hail ranging in size from 3/4 to 2 inches in diameter rumbled across the northwest and northern portions of the Denver metropolitan area. The thunderstorm apparently developed from an outflow boundary generated from the supercell thunderstorm that moved across extreme northeastern Colorado earlier in the evening.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $120 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
A severe thunderstorm producing large hail ranging in size from 3/4 to 2 inches in diameter rumbled across the northwest and northern portions of the Denver metropolitan area. The thunderstorm apparently developed from an outflow boundary generated from the supercell thunderstorm that moved across extreme northeastern Colorado earlier in the evening. The storm developed near the foothills and moved east northeast across northern portions of the metro area. The hardest hit areas were cities of Arvada and Westminster, northwest of Denver. The insurance industry estimated $60 million in damage to homes and personal property and $62 million in damage to automobiles for a total of $122 million in insured losses. This estimate also included the cities of Golden, Thornton and Wheat Ridge. It was the fourth worst hailstorm in the last 10 years.
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:39 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Rip Current in Florida, May 22, 1996
- Hail in Texas, May 22, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, May 22, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, May 22, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, May 22, 1996
- Hail in Kansas, May 22, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, May 22, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Iowa, May 22, 1996
- Tornado in Colorado, May 22, 1996
- Tornado in Colorado, May 22, 1996
- Tornado in Kansas, May 22, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, May 22, 1996
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, May 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5553543.