Per the US Weather Service, Weld County Colorado has had 296 tornadoes since 1950 - about 4 annually - making it Tornado Capitol of the World. And that seems to be due to a weather effect from Denver called the Denver Vortex. Cold mountain air shoots out of canyons leading into the Denver area, getting swirled along a high plateau to the south and west. This meets hot humid Great Plains air coming in from the northeast (mainly), turning the Denver/Colorado Spring region into a tornado factory that shoots tornadoes toward Weld county, which is a largely uninhabited county in the northeast corner of Colorado. In consequence, I-25 from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins gets extreme weather a LOT. However, hail the size that hit you is a very common experience all through the high plains. We love the people and the land, but the parks are very "spendy", and we we have to carry spare vent covers. Our car now looks like a maniac attacked it with a ballpeen hammer. Our car and our MH need multiple windshield chip repairs. The most extreme damage is from flash floods, hail, and extreme (60+ mph winds) in summer and extreme (-30F and lower) cold, HUGE blizzards with epic snowfall (8' + drifts) and extreme winds. I don't suggest being in an RV in winter in the high plains, but it CAN be done. Suggestions: use headphones as noise attenuators. Vent pillows are useful because they reduce water from getting into the RV when the vent covers break. Carry spare vent covers and a couple of spare turn signals, etc.. If boondocking, try to position the rig so that it faces into the storm. Close your slides and your curtains during storms in case windows shatter. Stabilizers help a lot in high winds. Park your car or truck upwind of the rig. If the rig turns over, you will still be able to shelter in the vehicle if it isn't crushed by the rig.
Welcome to Colorful Colorado! Some years ago the State replaced our signs with ones that were very colorful and more modern looking. Unfortunately the colors on the signs did not withstand the UV rays of our more than 300 days of sunshine and rather quickly faded into ugly and unreadable shingles. The old original signs were rehung. They reflect the history of pioneer and miners cabins and kind of grow on you. Come back in late September when the aspens are turning and you’ll see why we’re known as colorful Colorado.
Wow! What a great video. Thank you for sharing. As a native of Loveland CO and northern Colorado as a whole, welcome. I hope you enjoyed your stay. You literally drove right past my family's home off of Lake Loveland when you came through. Sorry about the hail damage, it's a thing out here we all live with along the Front Range but it looked like you weathered (pun intended) it well.
We just went up the canyon to Estes Park this week to go to RMNP and loved it, but wasn't sure we wanted to take our campers up to Estes. Impressed that you went all the way up there. That canyon was unexpected for us too and very impressive. Wasn't Rocky Mtn Natl Park amazing? There's a reason it's the 4th most visited Park even over Yellowstone and Yosemite. We saw SO many elk! Glad you had a good trip up there. Looking forward to your report on RMNP and I hope you do Pike's Peak! That was a blast. Terrifying but exhilarating. Good job on the video!
We absolutely loved it & can’t wait to share more in upcoming episodes! We didn’t make it to Pikes Peak, but that’s definitely on the list for next time around!
Thanks for a great video. I really loved it starting about 14 minutes in, when you entered Big Thompson Canyon, because I was overcome with a flood of beautiful memories. When I was 10 years old in 1957, our fam had the same reactions to it, and to our first views of Longs Peak and the Front Range from Estes. Sooo many good memories. Everyone tent camped back then, and we drove to Glacier Basin Campground on a Sunday afternoon in July and had our choice of many open and wonderful campsites. That was just before camping really caught on. By 1962, we could barely find a site, and didn't camp after that. Anyway, I loved your reactions to that area. That first view as you enter Estes was magical for me 67 years ago, and I"m glad you were equally impressed. 🤭
We had a wonderful time! We can't wait to share all of the footage in the next couple of episodes. Estes Park was definitely a favorite stop from last year.
Very pretty.. Thanks!
Thanks again for watching!
Per the US Weather Service, Weld County Colorado has had 296 tornadoes since 1950 - about 4 annually - making it Tornado Capitol of the World. And that seems to be due to a weather effect from Denver called the Denver Vortex. Cold mountain air shoots out of canyons leading into the Denver area, getting swirled along a high plateau to the south and west. This meets hot humid Great Plains air coming in from the northeast (mainly), turning the Denver/Colorado Spring region into a tornado factory that shoots tornadoes toward Weld county, which is a largely uninhabited county in the northeast corner of Colorado.
In consequence, I-25 from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins gets extreme weather a LOT.
However, hail the size that hit you is a very common experience all through the high plains. We love the people and the land, but the parks are very "spendy", and we we have to carry spare vent covers. Our car now looks like a maniac attacked it with a ballpeen hammer. Our car and our MH need multiple windshield chip repairs.
The most extreme damage is from flash floods, hail, and extreme (60+ mph winds) in summer and extreme (-30F and lower) cold, HUGE blizzards with epic snowfall (8' + drifts) and extreme winds. I don't suggest being in an RV in winter in the high plains, but it CAN be done.
Suggestions: use headphones as noise attenuators. Vent pillows are useful because they reduce water from getting into the RV when the vent covers break. Carry spare vent covers and a couple of spare turn signals, etc.. If boondocking, try to position the rig so that it faces into the storm. Close your slides and your curtains during storms in case windows shatter. Stabilizers help a lot in high winds. Park your car or truck upwind of the rig. If the rig turns over, you will still be able to shelter in the vehicle if it isn't crushed by the rig.
Very interesting, thank you for this information!
Welcome to Colorful Colorado! Some years ago the State replaced our signs with ones that were very colorful and more modern looking. Unfortunately the colors on the signs did not withstand the UV rays of our more than 300 days of sunshine and rather quickly faded into ugly and unreadable shingles. The old original signs were rehung. They reflect the history of pioneer and miners cabins and kind of grow on you. Come back in late September when the aspens are turning and you’ll see why we’re known as colorful Colorado.
That makes sense!! Thank you so much for explaining that. 😊 We truly loved Colorado! And thank you for watching!
Wow! What a great video. Thank you for sharing. As a native of Loveland CO and northern Colorado as a whole, welcome. I hope you enjoyed your stay. You literally drove right past my family's home off of Lake Loveland when you came through.
Sorry about the hail damage, it's a thing out here we all live with along the Front Range but it looked like you weathered (pun intended) it well.
Thank you so much for your compliment and for watching! We truly loved that area of the country! It was absolutely stunning.
Hey there!! We did that drive between Wyoming and South Dakota in reverse lol love seeing that scenery ~Brad and Diana
It was a gorgeous drive!! Thanks for watching!!
We just went up the canyon to Estes Park this week to go to RMNP and loved it, but wasn't sure we wanted to take our campers up to Estes. Impressed that you went all the way up there. That canyon was unexpected for us too and very impressive. Wasn't Rocky Mtn Natl Park amazing? There's a reason it's the 4th most visited Park even over Yellowstone and Yosemite. We saw SO many elk! Glad you had a good trip up there. Looking forward to your report on RMNP and I hope you do Pike's Peak! That was a blast. Terrifying but exhilarating. Good job on the video!
We absolutely loved it & can’t wait to share more in upcoming episodes! We didn’t make it to Pikes Peak, but that’s definitely on the list for next time around!
Thanks for a great video. I really loved it starting about 14 minutes in, when you entered Big Thompson Canyon, because I was overcome with a flood of beautiful memories. When I was 10 years old in 1957, our fam had the same reactions to it, and to our first views of Longs Peak and the Front Range from Estes. Sooo many good memories. Everyone tent camped back then, and we drove to Glacier Basin Campground on a Sunday afternoon in July and had our choice of many open and wonderful campsites. That was just before camping really caught on. By 1962, we could barely find a site, and didn't camp after that. Anyway, I loved your reactions to that area. That first view as you enter Estes was magical for me 67 years ago, and I"m glad you were equally impressed. 🤭
I love this! Estes Park remains one of our favorite towns we’ve visited. Thanks for watching!
I hope you had a good time in Estes Park. I have only visited the area one time but hope to get to visit again. Rocky Mountain NP is beautiful.
We had a wonderful time! We can't wait to share all of the footage in the next couple of episodes. Estes Park was definitely a favorite stop from last year.