Honestly, if you live anywhere along the Front Range, you know the drill. You hear that low, distant rumble, look at the sky, and immediately start wondering if your car insurance deductible is still $500 or if you bumped it up to a thousand. But seeing "hailstorm" and "Colorado" in the same sentence in the middle of January? That feels wrong. It's usually the season for light, fluffy powder or that annoying icy crust on your windshield, not ice chunks falling from the sky at 80 miles per hour.
Yet, here we are.
What is actually happening with the Colorado weather right now?
The hailstorm in Colorado today isn't your typical July afternoon blockbuster. Usually, "Hail Alley"—that stretch from Cheyenne down through Denver and Colorado Springs—saves its worst for the window between May and August. That’s when the heat from the plains meets the cool mountain air and creates those massive, rotating updrafts that cook up golf-ball-sized ice.
But January 2026 is acting a little weird. We’ve been stuck in this bizarre pattern where unseasonably warm air is surging up from the south, clashing with a series of quick-moving cold fronts.
According to the National Weather Service in Boulder, we aren't seeing the softball-sized monsters that famously trashed the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo a few years back. Instead, today's activity is more about "convective bursts." Basically, the atmosphere has just enough juice and instability to create small, intense cells. They move fast. They drop a lot of pea-to-dime-sized hail in about ten minutes, and then they're gone.
Why today feels different
If you're out near Limon or heading east on I-70, you've probably noticed the wind is the real protagonist today. We are currently under various Red Flag Warnings and High Wind Warnings. When you mix 60 mph gusts with small hail, it doesn't just fall—it sandblasts.
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It’s a "brown-out" kind of day. The dryness is extreme.
I was looking at the recent CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network) reports, and the moisture levels are incredibly low for this time of year. So, while a hailstorm in Colorado today sounds like a "wet" event, it's actually happening in the middle of a serious fire weather setup. It's a weird, contradictory mess of a forecast.
The science behind this is pretty straightforward, even if it feels chaotic. For hail to form, you need:
- Moisture (which is lacking, but present in small pockets today).
- Instability (warm air rising rapidly).
- Wind Shear (changes in wind speed/direction with height).
Today, we have tons of shear. The jet stream is screaming overhead. That shear is "stretching" the clouds, allowing ice pellets to recirculate just long enough to freeze into solid hail before the gravity wins and they pelt your roof.
The Insurance Nightmare
Let's talk about the elephant in the room: insurance. If you saw the news from earlier this week, Colorado home insurance rates are basically skyrocketing. We’re talking 20% to 50% jumps for some folks. Why? Because of exactly this. Even "small" hail events like the one today add up.
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A few years ago, a major storm in Yuma destroyed 99% of the roofs in town. 99 percent!
Insurers are looking at Colorado as a high-risk zone on par with Florida’s hurricane alleys. When we get a hailstorm in Colorado today—even a minor one in January—it just reinforces that data point for the actuaries. It keeps the "loss cost" high.
What you should actually do right now
Look, don't panic. You probably don't need to go out and buy a hail blanket for your car this second if you're in downtown Denver, but if you're out on the Eastern Plains, you need to be smart.
- Check your gutters. I know, it’s cold. But if they’re clogged with frozen leaves and this hail turns into a quick burst of rain, you’re looking at ice dams and basement flooding by tonight when the temperature craters.
- Move the car. If you have a garage, use it. Don't leave the truck out "just for a minute" while you run inside. These January cells move at about 40-50 mph. By the time you see the clouds turn that weird bruised-purple color, you have maybe three minutes.
- Watch the wind. Since the hail today is small, the wind is actually the bigger threat to your windows. Small ice moving horizontally at 60 mph can crack a double-pane window just as easily as a large stone falling vertically.
The 2026 Outlook
We are currently shifting out of a La Niña pattern and heading toward something more neutral, or even El Niño-ish by summer. Historically, that transition can lead to a very active spring. If we are already seeing convective hail in January, the "traditional" hail season starting in May could be a doozy.
Meteorologists like Alan Smith from OpenSnow have been tracking this warm-up, and the consensus is that the "blocking" patterns that usually keep winter stable are breaking down. This means more "wildcard" days.
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Stay weather-aware. Download the NWS "Mobile" shortcut on your phone or keep a tab open for the Boulder/Denver radar.
Next Steps for Your Home
If you suspect you've taken a hit from the hailstorm in Colorado today, don't wait until May to look at it.
First, do a "ground-level" inspection. Look for "spatter" marks on your fence—those are clean spots where the hail knocked off the oxidation. Check your window screens for small tears. If the screens are dented or torn, your roof likely took a hit too.
Second, if you find damage, call a local contractor. Avoid the "storm chasers" who show up in white trucks with out-of-state plates tomorrow morning. They’ll be here because they track these radar hits just like we do. Use someone with a 303 or 719 area code who has been in business for more than five years.
Finally, document everything. Take photos of the hail next to a coin for scale if it's safe to go outside. This makes the insurance claim process infinitely smoother.
Stay safe out there, and keep an eye on the horizon; this wind isn't quitting until at least Saturday evening.