4:30 p.m. update: Flights at Denver International Airport were grounded Wednesday afternoon as thunderstorms brought the threat of hail and tornadoes.
3:44 p.m. update: Winds of up to 40 mph and half-inch hail are possible with a storm system heading through the eastern Denver metro, according to a special weather statement from the National Weather Service's Boulder office.
The statement, in effect until 4:15 p.m., advises that the areas around the Denver International Airport, Bennett and Strasburg could get high winds and hail. People in the area should seek shelter in a sturdy structure.
1:30 p.m. update: The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for southeastern Colorado until 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to an alert from the agency on social media.
The area -- which includes La Junta, Yuma and Lamar -- could see multiple tornadoes, apple-sized hail and scattered wind gusts up to 70 mph, meteorologists said in the alert.
A severe thunderstorm watch has also been issued by the weather service for eastern Colorado, including Las Animas, Otero, Crowley, Pueblo, El Paso, Lincoln, Elbert and Washington counties.
That watch will be active until 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Original story: Thunderstorms will bring heavy rain and up to 2-inch hail to Colorado on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Hail an inch in diameter or larger is considered "severe," according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, which is part of the same federal agency as the weather service.
The plains in southeastern Colorado can expect damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph, 2-inch hail, heavy rain and a chance for tornadoes, according to a Hazardous Weather Outlook from the weather service's Pueblo office.
Hail that's 2 inches in diameter falls between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball, according to meteorologists.
Scattered rain showers and thunderstorms will start as early as noon Wednesday, but the strongest chance for severe weather will be between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., according to the weather service.
Hail is expected to be smaller in northeastern and north central Colorado, weather service forecasters out of Boulder said. The largest hail forecast is an inch in diameter, about the size of a quarter.
Scattered afternoon storms are expected each day through the weekend. The rainy weather will accompany rising temperatures that could hit 90 degrees Sunday in Denver, forecasters said.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.
