Hailstorm bashes Pueblo
CHIEFTAIN PHOTOS/JOHN JAQUES -- Two men cover their car with blankets to help protect it from hail in the 100 block of Michigan Street after a strong storm moved through Pueblo Wednesday afternoon causing major damage throughout the city.
Bill Schwabe removes broken glass from a window at Gotcha Covered on Union Avenue after Wednesday's storm.
Falling ice smashes windows, dents cars
By JAMES AMOS THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
A hailstorm pounded parts of Pueblo on Wednesday afternoon, breaking windshields, damaging trees and flooding streets.A tornado from the storm touched down about 5:15 p.m. in Baca County northwest of Pritchett but did no damage.Riley Frazee, director of Baca County Division of Emergency Management, said the twister, reported by the public, touched down for a few minutes and then quickly rose back into the clouds."The storm was moving quick to the southeast and it came close to a residence. The people who lived there got quite a scare," Frazee said. In Pueblo, golf ball-sized hail was reported across the Downtown and North Side areas, breaking windows and damaging trees.Spokesman Jim Hall of the National Weather Service near the Pueblo Memorial Airport said even larger hail was reported to the south and east of Pueblo."We had reports of tennis ball-sized hail in Blende," he said. "So it was kind of a mess."The hail came from a fast-moving thunderstorm that boiled up over north Fremont County and reached Pueblo about 2 p.m. Several weak weather fronts have been pushing through, Hall said. The moisture from those and cold air dragged in by the systems caused Wednesday's fierce storm and could do the same again today.The Weather Service headquarters received more than an inch of water from the storm, Hall said.Hall said the damage caused by the storms isn't surprising with hail that large. Additionally, hot weather can make windshields easier to break when cold water and ice hit them.The temperature dropped during the storm from 75 degrees to 59 degrees.The hail wreaked havoc on the fleet of the Pueblo Police Department."The police department got hit hard," said Deputy Chief John Ercul while cleaning broken glass from his new, unmarked police cruiser. "I don't know how many (cars were damaged), but it's quite a few."May Martinez-Hendershot of State Farm said the insurance company received more than 530 claims filed on broken auto windows by 5:30 p.m. Wednesday."We'll be out there first thing," Thursday to look at the damage, she said.The storm caused street flooding when storm drains became plugged, but no serious flooding was reported, according to city and county officials.Pueblo City Manager Jerry Pacheco said he was at City Hall when the hail hit and it broke building windows and glass lights along Union Avenue.Greg Severance, head of public works for Pueblo County, said the Vineland and St. Charles Mesa areas received a lot of hail but not enough water to cause roads to be damaged by flooding."We've got the typical tree branches (down) and whatnot," he said. "But the Mesa got hit hard."Lynn Wittenburg, vice president of marketing at The Professional Bull Riders, said via Twitter that the damage was extensive near Union Avenue."We now have 100 employees with hail damage all calling their insurance agents," she said.Jared Garcia, contract supervisor at Binswanger Glass in the Midtown area, said people tried to avoid damage by driving into the company's large garage as the hail hit.That worked for some, but not Garcia himself. The windows on his new car were broken and the body panels dented.The glass company was deluged by callers to have cars and homes repaired, he said Wednesday afternoon."We're already scheduled into next week," he said. "And that's only two hours after it happened."Some Pueblo farmers reported heavy hail, while some were relieved that their crops had been missed by the quick-passing storm.Joe Mauro, who grows a variety of vegetables between 35th and 38th lanes, said his land received some rain, but no hail."It missed us for a change," Mauro said, noting that "we got hit hard about three weeks ago. That storm tore up a lot of our crops, but we're doing OK now. We're back in business."Nearby, Shane Milberger said his produce was hit hard Wednesday."It's not good," Milberger said. "We got hit pretty good."He reported "quarter to 1-inch size hail" fell for approximately 25 minutes, taking a toll on any of the produce it hit on the 250 acres that he farms between Lane 20 and Lane 39.Milberger, who grows chile, pumpkin, squash and cantaloupe, said he couldn't estimate the amount of crop damage "until I can get out and evaluate the crops."He said it will take at least four weeks to recover. "We need to reset and regrow."Milberger said six days of steady rainfall has been equally damaging to his crops. "It hurts the fruit that lays on the muddy ground," he said. "It's muddy and you tear up the field bringing out the crops. It just makes our work harder."In Avondale, Tom Rusler said he was in the fields looking over his crops and heard the storm approaching."We know when you hear that steady roar that we're going to get something. Thankfully, it wasn't worse. There was no wind to drive it," Rusler said.He estimated the hail that pounded his land as "ping-pong" ball size that fell for about 10 minutes."The crops were hurt but they look OK," Rusler said. "We grow pinto beans, corn, onions, which can take a little more abuse."We just hope it doesn't start up again. But it looks like round 2 may be coming later today."In other hail notes:In Pueblo West, the fast-moving storm dumped more than an inch of rain in 10 minutes, while other areas received little or no moisture at all.Hail ranging in size from peas to quarters fell in the area just north of U.S. 50, where the heaviest rainfall was reported.Roadside ditches were still spilling over onto the road an hour after the storm.Heavy rain with no hail was reported in the golf course area and just west of Purcell Boulevard, while further west, near Pueblo West High School, was left dry after the storm had passed.One North Side resident reported that golf ball-size hail pounded the area for five minutes, "making for some treacherous moments."Steve Nawrocki, executive director of Pueblo SRDA, said windshields of several cars parked in the senior center and health department across the street had been shattered by the hard-hitting hail.University Park was hit twice by hail, the first round just after 2 p.m. when quarter-size hail hit the neighborhood. It stopped for a few minutes before another round of marble-size hail fell for about five minutes. The rainfall lasted approximately 30 minutes.A severe thunderstorm rolled across southern Las Animas County to the east at about 3 p.m. Weather spotters in the area reported golf-ball-sized hail and damaging winds in excess of 60 mph.Another storm moved out of Pueblo County to Otero County hitting parts of Fowler at 3 p.m. Weather spotters west of town reported marble-sized hail and heavy rain.A wall of similar severe thunderstorms stretched across portions of Bent and Prowers counties as well. Huerfano County also was plagued by storms.
CHIEFTAIN PHOTOS/JOHN JAQUES -- Two men cover their car with blankets to help protect it from hail in the 100 block of Michigan Street after a strong storm moved through Pueblo Wednesday afternoon causing major damage throughout the city.
Bill Schwabe removes broken glass from a window at Gotcha Covered on Union Avenue after Wednesday's storm.
Falling ice smashes windows, dents cars
By JAMES AMOS THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
A hailstorm pounded parts of Pueblo on Wednesday afternoon, breaking windshields, damaging trees and flooding streets.A tornado from the storm touched down about 5:15 p.m. in Baca County northwest of Pritchett but did no damage.Riley Frazee, director of Baca County Division of Emergency Management, said the twister, reported by the public, touched down for a few minutes and then quickly rose back into the clouds."The storm was moving quick to the southeast and it came close to a residence. The people who lived there got quite a scare," Frazee said. In Pueblo, golf ball-sized hail was reported across the Downtown and North Side areas, breaking windows and damaging trees.Spokesman Jim Hall of the National Weather Service near the Pueblo Memorial Airport said even larger hail was reported to the south and east of Pueblo."We had reports of tennis ball-sized hail in Blende," he said. "So it was kind of a mess."The hail came from a fast-moving thunderstorm that boiled up over north Fremont County and reached Pueblo about 2 p.m. Several weak weather fronts have been pushing through, Hall said. The moisture from those and cold air dragged in by the systems caused Wednesday's fierce storm and could do the same again today.The Weather Service headquarters received more than an inch of water from the storm, Hall said.Hall said the damage caused by the storms isn't surprising with hail that large. Additionally, hot weather can make windshields easier to break when cold water and ice hit them.The temperature dropped during the storm from 75 degrees to 59 degrees.The hail wreaked havoc on the fleet of the Pueblo Police Department."The police department got hit hard," said Deputy Chief John Ercul while cleaning broken glass from his new, unmarked police cruiser. "I don't know how many (cars were damaged), but it's quite a few."May Martinez-Hendershot of State Farm said the insurance company received more than 530 claims filed on broken auto windows by 5:30 p.m. Wednesday."We'll be out there first thing," Thursday to look at the damage, she said.The storm caused street flooding when storm drains became plugged, but no serious flooding was reported, according to city and county officials.Pueblo City Manager Jerry Pacheco said he was at City Hall when the hail hit and it broke building windows and glass lights along Union Avenue.Greg Severance, head of public works for Pueblo County, said the Vineland and St. Charles Mesa areas received a lot of hail but not enough water to cause roads to be damaged by flooding."We've got the typical tree branches (down) and whatnot," he said. "But the Mesa got hit hard."Lynn Wittenburg, vice president of marketing at The Professional Bull Riders, said via Twitter that the damage was extensive near Union Avenue."We now have 100 employees with hail damage all calling their insurance agents," she said.Jared Garcia, contract supervisor at Binswanger Glass in the Midtown area, said people tried to avoid damage by driving into the company's large garage as the hail hit.That worked for some, but not Garcia himself. The windows on his new car were broken and the body panels dented.The glass company was deluged by callers to have cars and homes repaired, he said Wednesday afternoon."We're already scheduled into next week," he said. "And that's only two hours after it happened."Some Pueblo farmers reported heavy hail, while some were relieved that their crops had been missed by the quick-passing storm.Joe Mauro, who grows a variety of vegetables between 35th and 38th lanes, said his land received some rain, but no hail."It missed us for a change," Mauro said, noting that "we got hit hard about three weeks ago. That storm tore up a lot of our crops, but we're doing OK now. We're back in business."Nearby, Shane Milberger said his produce was hit hard Wednesday."It's not good," Milberger said. "We got hit pretty good."He reported "quarter to 1-inch size hail" fell for approximately 25 minutes, taking a toll on any of the produce it hit on the 250 acres that he farms between Lane 20 and Lane 39.Milberger, who grows chile, pumpkin, squash and cantaloupe, said he couldn't estimate the amount of crop damage "until I can get out and evaluate the crops."He said it will take at least four weeks to recover. "We need to reset and regrow."Milberger said six days of steady rainfall has been equally damaging to his crops. "It hurts the fruit that lays on the muddy ground," he said. "It's muddy and you tear up the field bringing out the crops. It just makes our work harder."In Avondale, Tom Rusler said he was in the fields looking over his crops and heard the storm approaching."We know when you hear that steady roar that we're going to get something. Thankfully, it wasn't worse. There was no wind to drive it," Rusler said.He estimated the hail that pounded his land as "ping-pong" ball size that fell for about 10 minutes."The crops were hurt but they look OK," Rusler said. "We grow pinto beans, corn, onions, which can take a little more abuse."We just hope it doesn't start up again. But it looks like round 2 may be coming later today."In other hail notes:In Pueblo West, the fast-moving storm dumped more than an inch of rain in 10 minutes, while other areas received little or no moisture at all.Hail ranging in size from peas to quarters fell in the area just north of U.S. 50, where the heaviest rainfall was reported.Roadside ditches were still spilling over onto the road an hour after the storm.Heavy rain with no hail was reported in the golf course area and just west of Purcell Boulevard, while further west, near Pueblo West High School, was left dry after the storm had passed.One North Side resident reported that golf ball-size hail pounded the area for five minutes, "making for some treacherous moments."Steve Nawrocki, executive director of Pueblo SRDA, said windshields of several cars parked in the senior center and health department across the street had been shattered by the hard-hitting hail.University Park was hit twice by hail, the first round just after 2 p.m. when quarter-size hail hit the neighborhood. It stopped for a few minutes before another round of marble-size hail fell for about five minutes. The rainfall lasted approximately 30 minutes.A severe thunderstorm rolled across southern Las Animas County to the east at about 3 p.m. Weather spotters in the area reported golf-ball-sized hail and damaging winds in excess of 60 mph.Another storm moved out of Pueblo County to Otero County hitting parts of Fowler at 3 p.m. Weather spotters west of town reported marble-sized hail and heavy rain.A wall of similar severe thunderstorms stretched across portions of Bent and Prowers counties as well. Huerfano County also was plagued by storms.
No comments:
Post a Comment