Afternoon thunderstorms, rain showers, hail, wind

3:00 PM: Thunderstorms with half-inch hail could fall across parts of El Paso County this afternoon, according to forecasters at the National Weather Service's Pueblo office.

Large hail and wind speeds of up to 65 km/h are possible in the west and center of the province, also inland north of Colorado Springs, Pikeview, Falcon and Ellicott, the agency said in posts on the social media site

People should seek shelter in a sturdy structure during the storm.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Original story: Thunderstorms and showers will hit Denver Wednesday afternoon before warmer and drier weather returns for the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

The chance of heavy rain and small hail will be greatest on Wednesday between 4 and 5 p.m., but rain could fall at any time in the Denver area, starting in the afternoon and continuing overnight. That's what NWS forecasters said.

Showers are expected to linger in the metro area along and south of Interstate 70 through the evening, and the wet weather is expected to keep temperatures lower than earlier this week. forecasters said.

Denver will see partly sunny weather on Wednesday and a high temperature of 68 degrees, dropping to an overnight low of 46 degrees. according to NWS meteorologists.

The metro area will see sunny weather with temperatures in the 70s and 80s for the rest of the week, forecasters say.