Name: Hail in Colorado, May 4, 2003
Start: 2003-05-04T10:49
End: 2003-05-04T11:06
Location: Colorado

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 4, 9:44 AM MST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 9:44 AM MST, 1 hour 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1044 AM MDT SUN MAY 4 2003

HAVE UPDATED ZONES TO ADD IN CHANCES FOR CONVECTION RANGING FROM 10
NORTHWEST TO 30 EAST.  LAPS DATA AND SATELLITE IMAGERY SUGGEST
DESTABILIZATION OCCURRING MORE RAPIDLY THAN ORIGINALLY EXPECTED.

SECOND CONCERN IS STRENGTH OF WINDS THIS AFTERNOON IN THE SOUTH
QUARTER OF THE FORECAST AREA.  KLHX HAS BEEN ABOVE WIND ADVISORY
CRITERIA SINCE ABOUT 1445Z...AND MODELS SUGGEST STRENGTHENING OF
LOW LEVEL WIND FIELDS THROUGH 22Z.  WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR FOR A
POSSIBLE WIND ADVISORY.

.GLD...NONE.

ENTWISTLE

Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 10:39 AM MST, 10 minutes before

COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-051200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1139 AM MDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS...EXTREME
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OVER MUCH OF THE
TRI-STATE AREA.  COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
GREATER ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM NORTON TO HILL CITY TO
QUINTER.  IN THIS AREA...SMALL HAIL MAY ACCUMULATE TO AN INCH OR TWO
IN DEPTH UNDER THE STRONGER STORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.  SEVERE WEATHER
IS POSSIBLE AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM CATCHES UP TO A DRY LINE
AND SURFACE FRONT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

ENTWISTLE

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:50 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Cheyenne

When: May 4, 10:49 AM MST
Where: Cheyenne County, Cheyenne Wells
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.817, -102.350

Hail, Cheyenne

When: May 4, 11:00 AM MST
Where: Cheyenne County, 3 mi S of Cheyenne Wells
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.767, -102.350

Hail, Cheyenne

When: May 4, 11:06 AM MST
Where: Cheyenne County, 13 mi WSW of Cheyenne Wells
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.750, -102.567

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

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, May 2003

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: 5350171, 5350172, 5350170.