(COLORADO) — Hail, lightning, gusty winds and heavy rain--all things we see here in Southern Colorado and the FOX21 Storm Team is here to help you navigate through all of it. But do you know what it means when meteorologists call a thunderstorm a severe thunderstorm?

Severe thunderstorms are categorized by the National Weather Service (NWS) as strong storms that contain, at the most basic level, at least 58 mph winds and/or quarter-sized hail. Quarter-sized hail is big enough to damage a car.

To add clarity to risk level, the NWS takes it one step further and actually adds to the type of risk within a severe thunderstorm. If a storm contains winds of at least 70 mph and/or golf ball-sized hail or both, it is deemed to have considerable risk. If a storm is deemed destructive, the storm must have winds of 80 mph and/or baseball-sized hail.

The best place to see these categories is on a weather alert on your phone, where it will not only tell you a severe thunderstorm is in your area but will also give you the category and what hazard is involved.

If you have the FOX21 Weather App downloaded, the FOX21 Storm Team will send you a notification if we see a severe thunderstorm in your area.