Colorado Springs hailstorm caused minor damage at library, mall – but nothing catastrophic

The biggest impact of Thursday's massive storm that dumped 8 inches of hail on parts of northern Colorado Springs may have been the snarled traffic.

Colorado's major insurers reported Friday that the storm has not triggered many claims so far, said Carole Walker, executive director of the Greenwood Village-based Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.

"There was a significant amount of hail, but it was small and soft," Walker said. "It could have accumulated in window wells and caused some flooding, but it wasn't large enough to cause damage to roofs and siding. It doesn't appear that we are seeing widespread damage from hail.

"It is a reminder, however, that we are in the spring severe weather season."

Chapel Hills Mall suffered minor damage when hail accumulated so high on the roof that it piled up above the flashing around skylights and leaked into the mall in places, said Victoria Harley, general manager of the Briargate-area shopping center. The mall remains open.

"The mall was hit by an unprecedented storm that dropped 6 to 8 inches of hail that did not melt (very quickly)," Harley said. "We did have some damage, but we are still open and operating. We did have to plow our lot, which we don't normally have to do in May. We still have 12-foot piles of it in our parking lot."

Pikes Peak Library District had minor damage to its Library 21c complex in the Briargate area from leaks near skylights resulting from accumulated hail, said Dee Sabol, a district spokeswoman.

"Fortunately, we avoided any damage to our electronic systems, but we had a small leak in our large skylight and a substantial leak in a skylight in a hallway of our administrative area," Sabol said. "We still have some hail on the roof and we had to plow our parking lot after the storm."

Check back to gazette.com for more information as it becomes available.