Boulder, CO Scientists Hail Study

Mother nature is notorious for delivering some of the most destructive forms of natural disaster on the planet. Of all these forms, hail is one of the least studied forms of destruction. Denver meteorologist, Chris Spears, recently wrote a very compelling story about  this spectacular form of fury. Before social media, law enforcement departments have been one of the only ways local hailstorms are relayed. Social media has become one of the most useful methods of public awareness in the history of weather phenomenons, such as hail. Boulder, Colorado scientists have begun to focus their hail predicting efforts using social media.

Short-Term Explicit Prediction (STEP)

Boulder scientists refer to this real-time weather experiment program as STEP. This experiment will be running until August 15. The goal is to better predict the path of these Colorado hail storms. Through a partnership with the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, volunteers of the CoCoRaHS network will place a “hail pad” in their yards to collect information about hail. The “hail pad” can be easily constructed with everyday household items. A piece of styrofoam is covered with heavy duty aluminum foil. The indentations caused by the hail can tell scientists a lot of information about the hail storm that has passed through their area.

Denver Metro Region Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network

Local CoCoRaHS networks for Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson. If you are interested in participating, here are a few useful links.

• How to make a “hail pad.”
• Hail Pad Distribution/Drop-off
• Printable Forms

Chad Gimmestad — Denver Metro Regional Coordinator (Temporary) National Weather Service Denver/Boulder, CO Weather Forecast Office 325 Broadway Boulder, CO 80305-3328 Phone: 303-494-4221 email: Chad.Gimmestad@noaa.gov

Adams County

Thaddeus Gourd Extension Agent for Adams County 9755 Henderson Road Brighton, CO 80601-8114 Office Phone 303-637-8117 Fax 303-637-8125 tgourd@co.adams.co.us

Arapahoe County

Volunteer coordinator needed. If interested, please contact Zach at zach@cocorahs.org

Broomfield County

Matt Kelsch Boulder, CO kelsch@ucar.edu 303-497-8309

Denver County

Volunteer coordinator needed. If interested, please contact Zach at zach@cocorahs.org  

Douglas County

Volunteer coordinator needed. If interested, please contact Zach at zach@cocorahs.org

Jefferson County

Jason Whitson Westminster, CO jwhitson7@gmail.com 720-339-8926 Roy Laws – Supplies Jefferson County Health Dept. 645 Parfet Street Lakewood CO 80215 303-271-5734 303-619-5114 (cell phone)