AURORA | A powerful storm at rush hour Wednesday damaged homes, trees and cars with hail, flooding rains and a tornado that briefly touched down in northwest Aurora.
Extensive tree and hail damage to roofs and cars, as well as power outages were reported, but no injuries.
The National Weather Service in Boulder issued a tornado warning shortly after 5 p.m. after multiple funnel clouds were spotted forming near the Lowry neighborhood. The NWS office later said that one funnel cloud briefly touched down in the area of East 10th Avenue and Elmira Street, uprooting trees and stripping the roofing off homes and littering the streets with debris.
The National Weather Service is investigating whether it was indeed a tornado or strong winds that caused the damage. Aurora police posted photos showing some funnel clouds in the sky during the storm, which brought heavy rain and swirling wind that stripped leaves off trees.
The northwest portion of the city suffered the toughest part of the storm, with large amounts of ping-pong-ball sized hail in some neighborhoods reported in addition to large amounts of rain, snarling rush-hour traffic. Multiple intersections flooded starting around 5 p.m., with up to four feet of
water in some areas as flash floods developed.
Xcel Energy crews worked throughout the evening as multiple power outages were reported after trees and other debris fell on electrical lines. Aurora police, fire and forestry officials also worked to help clear fallen trees and limbs from roadways across northwest Aurora neighborhoods hardest hit by the storm.