Snow in July? Not quite.
The city of Colorado Springs witnessed a downpour of aggressive hail that persisted for hours, damaging cars and homes and forcing locals to join forces to remove heaping mounds of ice.
Resident Krystal Taylor told CNN the hail started Thursday afternoon and was strongest around 11 p.m.
“Being in our house, all we could hear were these loud smacks all around our home from (this) tennis-ball size hail being thrown at our house from above,” she said. “It was loud crashing all around the house. Lightning, thunder and hail can be a scary mix.”
Locals headed outside to alleviate the storm’s effects, once it was safe.
“Our neighbors shoveled and worked together to get the hail out of the streets so people in the neighborhood could drive safely,” Taylor said. “Despite the storm, it was heartwarming to have nearly the entire neighborhood working together. Without question people were opening their garages and bringing shovels out to help.”
Hail storms are not unusual in the area. Colorado ranked No. 2 in a list of states with the most hail loss insurance claims, according to a May report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau that assembled claims from 2013 to 2015.
The CNN Weather unit said the region received 30 reports of hail Thursday alone, with hailstones more than 2 inches in diameter reported in and around Colorado Springs. The forecast suggests the weather is improving in the area, with only a slight chance of thunderstorms over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.