Saturday storm brought big rain to Fort Collins, which is behind for summer

That intense Saturday evening storm gave parts of Fort Collins a pretty good drink during what has been a dry summer so far.

Some weather watchers in west Fort Collins reported more than an inch of rain fell starting about 7 p.m., while the Colorado State University weather station, on the main campus, recorded much less — 36/100ths.

That storm also brought hail with it, reported in Fort Collins to range from pea to dime sized.

Rain totals of more than an inch were reported west of Shields Street between Laporte Avenue and Horsetooth Road. The highest totals reported through the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network were:

• 1.46 inches near Bauder Elementary School on West Prospect Road
• 1.39 inches near Rolland Moore Park
• 1.22 inches near Blevins Middle School, west of Taft Hill Road and north of Drake Road
• 1.18 inches near the Holiday Twin Drive-In

Most of the CoCoRaHS weather watchers in Fort Collins reported that more than half an inch fell in the span of less than an hour, with most of the precipitation hitting in 30 minutes.

It was an intense reprieve in the midst of what has been a dry summer.

So far this year, 7.7 inches of rain has fallen at the Fort Collins station. That compares with the 8.91 inches that falls, on average, by the end of June and the 10.54 inches by the end of July.

When you look at it month-by-month, you can see spring and summer precipitation has been far below average:

• June rainfall totaled 0.34 inches, when 1.9 inches is the average.
• May's rainfall was 0.68 inches, when 2.72 inches is average.

To meet July's average, Fort Collins will need to just over an inch of rain in the next nine days.

It's a bit different from last year, which was a very wet 2023. More than 24 inches fell in total last year, much more than the 15.88 inches that is average for the Fort Collins weather station.

Fort Collins precipitation for 2024 and how it compares with the average

2024 vs. the average:

• January: 0.22 inches vs. 0.41 inches
• February: 2.03 inches vs. 0.47 inches
• March: 1.94 inches vs. 1.31 inches
• April: 1.95 inches vs. 2.10 inches
• May: 0.68 inches vs. 2.72 inches
• June: 0.34 inches vs. 1.9 inches
• July: 0.54 inches so far vs. 1.63 inches for the whole month

Farther away, the hail was larger

Reports from farther south of Fort Collins included larger hail: grape or ping-pong-ball sized, according to CoCoRAHS.

Root Shoot Malting Co. reported that crops grown on more than 512 acres in Berthoud were completely destroyed in 30 minutes of hail. They were growing blue corn, alfalfa, barley and non-GMO corn, according to a Facebook post.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Saturday storm brought big rain to Fort Collins, which is behind for summer