Stormy weather flashed through northeastern Colorado Tuesday afternoon, with funnel cloud sightings, a tornado warning and a severe thunderstorm creating tense moments, including a call to take shelter at Denver International Airport.
Street flooding was reported in some areas of the Denver metro area and tornado warning sirens sounded at about 3:50 p.m. in parts of the metro area including Aurora.
A funnel cloud poked down from the clouds near E-470 in Aurora, it was visible from Centennial Airport, Lone Tree and the Denver Broncos training camp.
The tornado warning was issued for western Aurora, far northeastern Denver and southwestern Adams County. The warning included DIA, where passengers were ordered to take shelter and flights were temporarily grounded. Flights were beginning to resume after 5 p.m., but the alert caused delays.
The Colorado State Patrol reported Highlands Ranch and Centennial were hit by heavy rain and hail for the second straight day and a heavy storm also pounded the Castle Rock area.
Late afternoon stormy weather brought traffic on some Front Range highways to a crawl, including sections of C-470.
Storms diminished in the metro area as weather moved east during the early evening hours.
Heavy rain in a short period Monday afternoon caused flooding along the Front Range. The Denver Broncos closed its Tuesday morning practice to the public because of flooding on the field.
The chance of thunderstorms continues Wednesday and decreases as the week progresses, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips
