Blog: Tracking severe weather in southern Colorado Friday

The First Alert 5 weather team are tracking expected severe thunderstorms across southern Colorado this afternoon and evening.

STORM DETAILS:

WHEN:

1 p.m. - 9 p.m.

MAIN CONCERNS:

-Large hail from 1-3" in diameter (Quarter - Large Apple).
-Strong wind gusts of 60-80 mph.
-Isolated tornadoes.
-Urban flooding and road closures.

ACTIONS:

• Be prepared:
  Stay weather aware, have a safe place to shelter in mind (inside a sturdy home or building).
• Have multiple ways to receive warnings.
• Plan on (potentially) needing to reschedule or re-time errands, outdoor exercise, dog walks (etc) while storms are moving through your area.
• Expect road closures, isolated flooding, and debris on roads where the strongest storms move through.

How's the weather in your area? Send us your photos and videos by clicking here.

LIVE BLOG:

7:00 p.m. | Tornado Watch canceled for metro areas of southern Colorado

The National Weather Service has canceled the Tornado Watch for El Paso, Pueblo, Teller, Fremont, and Huerfano counties. The watch continues for all other counties.

5:50 p.m. | Tornado Warning in SW Otero County

4:25 p.m. | DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM moving into Pueblo. Seek shelter!

4:15 p.m. | Severe thunderstorm warning in Pueblo until 5:00 p.m.

4:00 p.m. | The tornado warning has expired for El Paso County. A tornado warning is in effect for Baca County until 4:45 p.m.

3:45 p.m. | Tornado Warning

A tornado warning is in effect for east central El Paso County until 4:15 p.m.

3:30 p.m. | Funnel Cloud spotted south of the Colorado Springs airport. Photo from Leslie Trujillo

3:25 p.m. | The Colorado Springs Fire Department is warning residents to stay inside. Multiple high angle rescues are ongoing, and the weather is delaying the operations.

3:00 p.m. | A destructive thunderstorm is moving south of Kim, CO

1:45 p.m. | TORNADO WATCH

A Tornado Watch has been issued for southern Colorado:

KOAA

The First Alert 5 team expect storms to continue developing and moving southeast throughout the afternoon and evening hours.

Event Details:

After some pretty nasty storms on Thursday, we're expecting another round of thunderstorms to roll across Southern Colorado on Friday. Storms are expected to initiate as early as the lunch hour in the mountains, with some showers reaching the Pikes Peak Region between 12-1 PM. As storms move east into the Plains, the severe risk will grow as ingredients come together for severe and destructive hail and damaging wind gusts. Hail as big as 1-2" could pummel some on the I-25 corridor today, with hail as big as 1.5-3.0" on the eastern Plains.

Other threats may include 60-80 mph wind gusts, frequent lightning, heavy rainfall and isolated tornadoes. Today's severe weather risk level occurs on average less than once per year along I-25 in southern Colorado, making today a good day to be weather aware.

Track this storm through the evening, including severe alerts, closures, and updated forecasts, on the First Alert 5 Weather stream, which can be viewed on the KOAA News5 app for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV or AndroidTV.

Resources:

• Get your latest First Alert 5 Weather Forecast
• Find the current school closing and delay list
• Keep track of flight delays at Denver International Airport or the Colorado Springs Airport
• Watch KOAA News5 LIVE newscasts and updated content throughout the day in your browser, the News5 App, or your favorite streaming device.
• Download the free News5 App for your iOS or Android device to get the latest headlines and news across Colorado.
• Download the free First Alert 5 Weather App for your iOS or Android device to get the latest headlines and news across Colorado.
• You can find us on social media with KOAA on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, X and BlueSky

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