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Early morning hailstorm damages trees, cars in the Denver metro area

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DENVER -- Early morning hail storms Tuesday caused damage to trees and cars around the Denver metro area.

In the Capitol Hill neighborhood, pea-sized hail covered entire neighborhoods, making the streets and sidewalks look like they were covered in snow when residents woke up in the morning.

“It sounded like the world was coming to an end,” said Natalie Baudon. “It did wake me, and I felt like it was going to end but then it continued on for maybe a half an hour to an hour.”

Boudon just moved to Colorado last year from the East Coast and says she’s never been through a hailstorm before. She’s still trying to get a handle on how springtime in Colorado works.

“I think Colorado’s weather is unique in its own way,” she said. “Experiencing snow in the middle of spring is quite interesting.”

Around her neighborhood, once the hail melted, the sidewalks and cars were covered in leaves from the hail-battered trees.

About 30 minutes northeast, in Green Valley Ranch, the hail caused damage to dozens of cars that were left outdoors overnight. The hailstorm was so loud it woke people up in the middle of the night.

“It was rough. I mean, all I heard was that it sounded like a battering ram, just somebody kicking down doors,” said Joe Peppers. “It was definitely golf ball-sized hail balls and it covered up everything. It looked like snow.”

The storm was so loud, it kept Peppers’ 1-year-old son awake for hours crying.

“At the time you’re just wondering if you’re going to be safe. It was a lot of wind and a lot of commotion at the same time with hail and thunder, so you’re just like, ‘What is this? is it a tornado?’ That’s what I thought,” Peppers said.

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Green Valley Ranch is home to several new neighborhoods and housing developments. Peppers just moved in a few months ago.

When he left his house this morning, Peppers noticed his car suffered from hail damage on the hood. He has already called his insurance company to have an adjuster come out and look at the damage.

Chester Zajac’s car was also damaged in the hailstorm. His car is not covered for hail damage and he’s not entirely certain he’ll get it fixed.

“I’ll take it to a body shop to ask what they’re going to charge to pound them out, but it probably won’t be worth it,” he said.

Luckily, Zajac’s other car was in the garage so only one was damaged in the storm. Zajac says he woke up around 3:30 a.m. to the loud banging sounds.

“It was really loud; it was like a five-pound ball being hammered on the roof,” Zajac said. “It was banging on the windows really hard and I thought we might have had windows breaking.”

Zajac, who is also relatively new to the neighborhood, climbed onto his roof this morning to check for damage but didn’t find any. There was, however, another loss in the backyard.

“The tomato plants and the fruit trees outback took a little bit of a beating,” Zajac said.

While Zajac is new to the neighborhood, he has been living in Colorado for more than 40 years and says this storm was not as bad as some he’s been through in the past. He knows how important precipitation is to Colorado and says the wet weather is welcome, just maybe not the hail.

“It was typical, typical springtime in the Rockies,” Zajac said. “We always need the moisture in Colorado.”