As we were eating dinner around 6:30 or 6:45 p.m., we started hearing rumbles of thunder as an area of scattered thunderstorms moved in from the southwest, in association with a strong push of monsoon moisture into southwest Colorado. I mentioned to my wife that if it was not raining by the time we finished eating, I might go out and try for some lightning shots. However, well before dinner was over, it began to rain, so I did not think much more about it. Shortly after dinner, as rain continued to fall with fairly frequent rumbles of thunder, my weather app alarmed for a special weather statement for the Pagosa Springs area, for pea-sized hail and 50 mph wind. This was issued at 7:18 p.m. I thought it looked like the storm had mostly moved over, so I did not expect much. However, on que, it began to hail within a minute or so of the alert. Pea-sized at first, but soon some larger stones around a half-inch began to mix in. It ended up hailing for at least 15 minutes, maybe 20, between about 7:20 and 7:40 p.m. The majority of it was pea-sized but two or three times, larger stones around a half inch mixed in, and it hailed enough to whiten the ground in some places. I called it in to the NWS in Grand Junction, and around that time another special weather statement was issued for up to penny-sized hail and 40 mph wind. It never got that big at our place, but I suppose it could have in other places. Indeed, I did later see some pictures on social media of what looked like around dime-sized hail in the area. Along with the hail, we got 1.25" of rain from this storm and some other weaker ones that came through later. According to COCORAHS reports, some places near and just east of downtown Pagosa Springs got around 2.25" of rain. The local newspaper said it was the first time in 10 years that some areas got more than 2 inches of rain in 24 hours, though I am guessing they may have meant in June. We never got much wind at our house, not more than 15-20 mph, but severe gusts did occur with other storms in the area, including a 64 mph gust at the Durango airport.
