It was a storm that made national headlines, as folks in Yuma spent Tuesday cleaning up the massive amount of hail that fell throughout town, and the surrounding area. The systems that went through Yuma County Monday night produced heavy rains, major wind gusts and hail ranging from ping-pong ball to baseball in size, as several severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service. It took heavy equipment to clear the streets, as it looked like something from a winter storm, as opposed to Spring, with 4-12 inches of hail stones piling up everywhere.
Many businesses, as well as the Yuma Schools, were closed as well to clean up and assess damages. Many residential homes and businesses had their siding completely wrecked, and windows broken out, including the CobbleStone Inn and the Yuma Methodist Church. Flooding was a major problem as the huge amounts of hail created dams where the water from the heavy rains was pushed into building interiors. Trees were wrecked and striped and vehicle windows were destroyed all over town. Damage and flooding were also reported in spots all along HWY 34, as the storm seemed to track down that path Monday night.
Akron, Otis, Eckley, Platner and Wray all had reports of heavy damage from the storm also. The system moved east late Monday night and caused problems in Nebraska and the Midwest on Tuesday. You can bet it will be a busy time for insurance claims over the next few weeks. There were more rain showers Tuesday evening across NE Colorado, but nothing severe to report, as the weather will be in that afternoon thunderstorm pattern, as the Memorial Day Weekend approaches.
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