Severe afternoon thunderstorms could bring up to tennis-ball-sized hail and 70 mph winds to Denver, northern Colorado and the Eastern Plains, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for 14 Colorado counties that will last through 9 p.m. Sunday.
That watch includes Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Elbert, Larimer, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington and Weld counties.
Most of the thunderstorms that reach Denver will wrap up by midnight, but another wave of weather is expected to arrive Monday afternoon, according to weather service forecasters.
Tennis-ball-sized hail is roughly 2 1/2 inches across, more than double the smallest size of hail that counts as “severe,” according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, which is part of the same federal agency as the National Weather Service.
Nontornado winds that reach speeds of 50 mph or greater are also considered severe and damaging, according to the laboratory.
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