With the impressive storms we've seen in southern Colorado over the past few days, including some with heavy enough rain for Flash Flood Warnings in El Paso and a number of other counties, some of you have been wondering "why wasn't there a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for that storm over my house? it was the biggest one I've ever seen!!"
It's a good question, and the answer comes in multiple parts
1) Who issues local watches and warnings? The local National Weather Service Forecast Office. Ours is in Pueblo.
2) What's a severe thunderstorm? To be "severe" a thunderstorm must have any or all of the following..
a) Hail 1" in diameter or greater
b) Winds 58 mph or stronger
c) A tornado (Kind of a slam-dunk on this one).
If the storm doesn't achieve the criteria above, it isn't severe....it's just a really big storm. The weather service can issue advisories and warnings for some of the side-effects, such as flash flooding or urban and small stream flooding, which they did.
One thing to keep in mind is that tornadoes develop from severe thunderstorms, so keep your eyes and ears open during severe weather, it could get even more interesting before it's over.
Keep those questions coming!
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