The National Weather Service in Goodland, Kansas issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Cheyenne, Colorado at 4:09 PM MDT on Sunday, September 20, 2026. The warning remains in effect until 4:45 PM MDT. This is a live snapshot as of 3:20 PM PDT. Conditions change fast — always verify with the National Weather Service for your specific county or ZIP code.
This storm is carrying golf ball size hail (1.75 inches) and 60 mph wind gusts, and the NWS impact statement names the damage explicitly: expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles, and expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. That is the exact damage profile restoration teams and roofing contractors see after a storm like this — the jobs start the same evening and keep coming for days.
Cheyenne, CO — Severe Thunderstorm Warning
- Issuing office: NWS Goodland KS
- Issued: 4:09 PM MDT, September 20, 2026
- Expires: 4:45 PM MDT, September 20, 2026
- Area: Cheyenne, Colorado — the warning covers northwestern Cheyenne County in east central Colorado
- Certainty: Observed | Urgency: Immediate
Where the storm is: At 4:08 PM MDT, the severe thunderstorm was located 11 miles east of Boyero, or 25 miles south of Flagler, moving southeast at 20 mph.
Hazard detail, verbatim from the NWS alert:
- Hail: golf ball size hail — 1.75 inches (hail threat: observed)
- Wind: 60 mph gusts (radar indicated)
- Thunderstorm damage threat: considerable
Impact, verbatim from the NWS alert: People and animals outdoors will be injured. Expect hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
Locations impacted include: Wild Horse and Aroya.
Source links: the NWS alert for this warning and the NWS Goodland office page.
Stay safe right now
Take the NWS instruction at face value: for your protection, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. Golf ball size hail injures people and animals caught outdoors — get inside before the core arrives, not when it is overhead.
If you can move vehicles under cover safely, do it; the NWS expects hail damage to windows and vehicles in the storm path. After the storm passes, treat every downed line as live, give damaged trees a wide berth, and do not drive around barricades — runoff and debris can make rural county roads impassable even without a flash flood warning.
When the sky clears, photograph roof, siding, window, and vehicle damage before anything is touched. Timestamped photos are the foundation of an insurance claim, and hail bruising on shingles is easy to miss once debris is cleared. Then call a local contractor — water finding its way through hail-compromised roofing starts a second wave of interior damage within days.
What this means for restoration teams
This is a hail-first event with a wind kicker — 1.75-inch observed hail with a “considerable” damage threat and 60 mph gusts. The NWS impact wording maps directly to the work orders: roof and siding repair, window replacement, vehicle damage (auto glass and body shops feel it too), and wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
The damage categories to stage for:
- Roof systems: hail bruising and punctures in shingles, membrane damage on low-slope roofs, compromised flashing. This is the call driver — the NWS explicitly expects hail damage to roofs.
- Siding and windows: cracked vinyl, dented metal siding, broken glass from wind-driven hail.
- Interior water intrusion: anywhere hail or wind opened the building envelope, the next rain finishes the job. Saturated drywall and insulation, and mold risk within 24–48 hours if it stays wet.
- Tree and debris damage: 60 mph gusts bring limbs down onto roofs, fences, and vehicles — expect the odd emergency tarp and board-up call.
The play tonight: keep an on-call rotation through the evening, pre-position tarps and board-up materials, and pair with a roofer if you have one — hail events are the rare storm where the roofer and the restorer get called to the same address. On the first call, capture the address, the damage type (roof, siding, windows, interior water), and whether photos exist already.
Field discipline: photo-document before mitigation, moisture-map every affected room when water has entered, and keep the homeowner’s payment responsibility clear in writing before work starts.
FEMA & federal assistance
If this storm causes damage beyond what insurance covers, the FEMA Helpline is 1-800-621-3362 (7 a.m.–10 p.m. local time, 7 days a week). You can also apply at DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA app, or find a recovery center at fema.gov/drc.
Basic eligibility: U.S. citizenship or qualified status, identity verification, proof of occupancy or ownership, and unmet needs not covered by insurance. Apply as soon as it is safe to do so.
Looking ahead
The warning expires at 4:45 PM MDT. The storm was moving southeast at 20 mph at last report, so the corridor around Wild Horse and Aroya should see the core pass through and then ease — but a warning this short (36 minutes from issuance to expiry) means the NWS saw a fast-moving, high-confidence threat. Watch for updates from NWS Goodland: severe-warned storms can be extended, re-issued, or followed by additional rounds as the line evolves.
Demand window: hail-damage calls typically start the same evening as homeowners walk their property and discover roof, siding, and window damage, and they keep coming for days as insurance adjusters schedule inspections. If your area took the core, tonight and tomorrow morning are the window.
Sources & how to verify
To verify for your own county or ZIP: enter your location at weather.gov or check your local NWS office page directly.
This post is for informational purposes and is not an official weather warning. Always follow instructions from local authorities and the National Weather Service.
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