Denver and other parts of Colorado were told to expect a second straight day of extreme weather -- anything from tornadoes, hail and flooding -- after Wednesday storms that made for surreal scenes, including some cars swamped by hail and floodwater.
Six tornadoes touched down across northeast Colorado on Wednesday, including one near Denver's airport, though none caused any damage.
But golf-ball sized hail punched holes in car windshields and combined with heavy rain to flood streets in Colorado Springs, NBC affiliate KOAA-TV reported.
"Holy hail," was how KOAA-TV anchor Rob Quirk began his broadcast Wednesday night.
KOAA video showed a person being rescued from a car swamped by hail and water at an intersection near a mall, one of 10 rescues at that site alone.
By Thursday morning, floodwaters had receded but some areas of Colorado Springs, as well as some Denver suburbs, were still coated in compacted hail.
Colorado Mayor Steve Bach called it a 100-year storm and said 600 calls were made to 911 in a two-hour period, KOAA-TV reported. Crews made 40 water rescues, many of them people trapped in or on top of vehicles, he added.
One area south of Denver had knee-deep hail still piled up in a ditch, NBC affiliate KUSA-TV reported.
"It looks just like winter," commented KUSA-TV anchor Gary Shapiro, "except the grass is green."