Zach, that's terrible! I'm so sorry, but glad you and the dog are ok! The husband was out mowing and I was planting a rose when it hit here. Small hail and heavy rain, but we didn't get the severe wind you got. There was no time to cover anything, we just ran inside when the hail started.

I think I planted all my peppers today, but will check to see if I have any spare plants for you. Let's hope your plants are salvageable.

Barb

Zach,

Sorry to hear about the horrible weather! Glad to hear that it never turned into a tornado. It's a good reminder to think about tornado procedure.

Thankful to hear you and yours are okay!!

Despite dealing with a bad chest cold, I dragged myself out an hour ahead of the storm to cover up all my tender and big leafed plants again. The clouds swirled overhead quite meanacingly but the system moved out very quick, headed for the plains.

Our home is just a scant few miles away from the tornado path that took out part of Windsor a few years back. I sat that one out in the basement, shaking like a leaf and scanning the radar, in a very similar scene to yours. It, too, happened VERY quickly so yes, it's always good to keep an eye on several weather/emergency websites or apps this time of year.

My go-to sites:

Twitter: #COwx (under "latest tweets" mode, not "top tweets")

Also follow @NWSBoulder for latest updates

National Weather Service: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=40.569270&lon=-105.074770#.XPSQ79FMGf1 (All sorts of radar and sat maps; and if you scroll down and click on "forecast discussion" you can get a much better feel for what might be headed down the pike. You also get to learn all sorts of meteorological in-phrases and acronyms.)

9 News Interactive Weather::

https://www.9news.com/weather/

Accuweather Radar:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/fort-collins-co/80521/weather-radar/327348

Weather Underground App: https://www.wunderground.com/download

Red Cross "Emergency" App: https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/mobile-apps.html (I like this one 'cos it sets off a little alert siren. Very effective!)

Safe gardening, all. :) :)

Last year on July 24 Englewood was hit with a 50-100 year rain event which caused the drain system east of Broadway to be surged, and all that water that couldn't drain instead rolled down the blocks to Broadway, Acoma, Bannock, flooding homes and property along the way. A lady hired to do catsitting was killed in the flooding event when she became trapped in the basement of the house she was at and could not escape. The water was easily 3-4 feet deep and pushed right through the basement level windows of homes in the area causing major damage to the neighborhood. My windows - which are newer and well installed - held up though I still took on four inches of water in our finished basement. Several of my neighbors on Bannock and many homes on Acoma ended up with water all the way up to the top of the basement stairs. Some were cut from the grid by Xcel until repairs were made. My neighbor couldn't live in her house until almost Christmas. Two homes may yet be condemned.

It was devastating, emotionally, and has left a lingering impact on our finances that will take years to recover from.

Now, any time it rains with intensity, I panic. It's totally PTSD. My neighbors have it. We all do in the neighborhood. The drains in this part of Englewood have been a problem for decades and the city is cheap and has an interest in concealing the problem to avoid spending money on it. I want to move - I hate it there now - my garden is the only thing keeping me sane. My spouse "loves" it there. He never wants to leave. His love for the house might outlive our 14 year relationship - but then again - how the hell does one sell a house and move when there was just a flood and a death 500 feet away, and there hasn't been one damn thing done about it by the city. We're stuck. Maybe my spouse is electing to have a positive outlook. Whatever.

Yesterday when the rain let loose I was at work in Golden. It was 3:45 and I just went on autopilot, shutting down my computer and leaving. I drove through rain, hail in slush form, flooded streets here in Lakewood and western Englewood, thinking the whole way "I can't live this way." I was worried about my house, my dog who was in my backyard, my neighbors, my garden - The rain was intense and had traffic on 285 moving at about 35 MPH all the way from Wadsworth to Santa Fe. I knew I should pull over and wait it out, but I couldn't stop until I got home.

In the end, all was well - some overflowing gutters but that was it - my dog was a little overwhelmed by the weather having been outside, but he was dry and safe, as was my house.

Still, I eagerly await this season to pass. I've been in the Denver area since 1992, but I'm really not sure I can live here anymore.

And Zach - I'm glad you are safe.

Stay safe!