Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network widespread spatial variability surprised meteorologists, and former assistant state climatologist for the state of Colorado, Nolan Doesken, asked for precipitation measurements from private citizens in the area. About 300 responded to his emergency request for data. Said Doesken later, "The results of the data showed that more than 14 in. (36 cm) of rain fell over southwest Fort Collins, the area where the flood waters originated, while less than 2 in. (5 cm) of rain fell only 3-4 mi (5-6 km) east. The enthusiastic interest shown by volunteers and the great value of the data verified the need for such
Hail . GR is derived from the French word grêle. Smaller-sized hail, as well as snow pellets, use the coding of GS, which is short for the French word grésil. Terminal velocity of hail, or the speed at which hail is falling when it strikes the ground, varies. It is estimated that a hailstone of in diameter falls at a rate of , while stones the size of in diameter fall at a rate of . Hailstone velocity is dependent on the size of the stone, friction with air it is falling through, the motion of wind it is falling through,