8:35 p.m.:A tornado touched down in Elbert County as severe thunderstorms caused flooding near Elizabeth on Tuesday night, according to the Elizabeth Fire Department.
A tornado touched down near County Road 21 and destroyed an outbuilding, fire officials said in a post on X. A nearby home was not damaged and no one was injured.
The storms flooded several roads and County Road 21 will be closed overnight, according to the department.
5:20 p.m.:Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms are possible across the Eastern Plains this evening, including in Adams, Arapahoe and Weld counties, National Weather Service forecasters said in an alert.
People living east of Denver may see several tornadoes, hail up to 2 inches in isolated areas and wind gusts up to 70 mph until 1 a.m., agency officials said in a post on X.
The severe thunderstorm watch covers most of northeast Colorado, including Adams, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma counties.
It also extends north into Nebraska and east into Kansas.
Original story: Afternoon thunderstorms set to move across the state Tuesday threaten Colorado with heavy rain, flash flooding and hail, according to the National Weather Service.
The storms will move from the mountains to the plains Tuesday afternoon and evening, with the strongest storms hitting east of the Interstate 25 corridor, NWS forecasters said.
Golf ball-sized hail, 60 mph winds and heavy rain will be the primary threats, forecasters said.
Thunderstorms will be strongest across the metro area and Front Range between 3 and 7 p.m., then across the plains from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., NWS forecasters said in a hazardous weather outlook. Storms could remain active in the metro area until 11 p.m. and hover over the plains until midnight.
“The threat of large hail and heavy rain will increase as the storms move eastward,” forecasters stated in the outlook. “The greatest severe threat should be in a zone from eastern Weld and Logan counties south to around Limon in the late afternoon and early evening.”
Denver will see temperatures peak around 87 degrees Tuesday before dropping into the low 60s overnight, forecasters said.
Thunderstorms and 80-degree weather will continue in the Denver area Wednesday and Thursday before the storms dry up and daily temperature highs rise back into the 90s for the rest of the week, forecasters said.
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Originally Published: August 13, 2024 at 6:48 a.m.
