Wet, wild weather swept through widespread parts of Colorado on Saturday, with hail pounding Pueblo and Manitou Springs as watches and warnings were posted for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, flash floods and winter weather.

At one point, Elbert County and Colorado Springs were under five different sorts of warnings or advisories. While a tornado was on the ground south of Ellicott, snow was falling less than 50 miles away on U.S. 24.

And at the same time authorities tried to reassure nervous residents along the St. Vrain and Big Thompson rivers that this was not a repeat of the deadly floods of 2013, the National Weather Service forecast a snowy Mother’s Day, not just in the mountains but all along the Front Range, with up to 10 inches expected along Interstate 25.

Early Saturday evening, as the Colorado Department of Transportation announced that chain restrictions were in effect in the mountains because of heavy snow on Interstate 70, a series of fresh tornado alerts were issued on the Eastern Plains for multiple tornadoes near Eads and Cheyenne Wells.

“May not hurt to watch for frogs and locusts, too,” the State Patrol in Sterling playfully tweeted.

“We haven’t seen anything like this, at this time of year, for the past several years,” said Jim Kalina, a NWS meteorologist, of the prolonged wet weather pattern and Saturday’s wild weather mix.

“The last few springs have been really dry,” Kalina said. “But if we didn’t have this, we would probably be seeing fires.”

A severe thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon unleashed golf-ball-size hail east of Pueblo, damaging roofs, siding, windows and vehicles, according to the Weather Service.

At about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, U.S. 24 was closed in both directions in Manitou Springs around the Cascade/Cave of the Winds interchange, as stalled vehicles caused safety concerns and cars slid on 3 inches of fallen hail.

For the third straight day, the city of Colorado Springs called out snowplows to clear deep hail from roads.

The plows then were put on standby, anticipating snow.

The American Red Cross briefly opened an evacuation center in Manitou Springs because of the threat of flash flooding in the Waldo Canyon burn scar area.

In the northeastern part of the state, several roads and highways, including parts of Colorado 54, 71 and 113, were closed by flooding.

“We’ve had a ton of closures,” said Trooper Tim Sutherland, a Colorado State Patrol spokesman. “It’s the weather, hail, rain, a lot of flooding, a lot of creeks over their banks.”

Morgan County Sheriff Jim Crone issued a statement advising “anyone who had to evacuate from along the South Platte in 2013 to be prepared to evacuate again in the next few days.

“There is NO evacuation recommendation at this time,” he added.

He asked area residents to stay off county roads because of flooding and for ranchers along the South Platte River to move livestock to higher ground.

Boulder was under a flash flood watch and the city closed open space trails west of Broadway.

But officials tried to reassure residents.

“This is not going to be the moisture content or anything close to the 2013 floods,” Mike Chard, director of the Boulder Office of Emergency Management told the Daily Camera, “but we are going to have and we are having localized flooding issues throughout the county and even across the whole Front Range.”

Power outages were reported in Ward, Gold Hill and parts of Four Mile Canyon, and “debris” was falling and drifting onto parts of Flagstaff Road.

Rising waters in Turkey Creek on Saturday, around Turkey Creek Park near North Turkey Creek and South Turkey Creek roads, in the foothills west of Littleton were washing out driveways, according to Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District.

The strong storm system is part of the same pattern that’s been bringing wet weather to northeastern Colorado for more than a week, Kalina said. This weekend’s storm is packing more moisture than the prior recent weather systems.

In the foothills, 8 to 12 inches of snow is possible by 9 a.m. Sunday, with 5 to 10 inches in Denver and parts of northeastern Colorado.

Heavy snow is also expected in the mountains, with up to 16 inches in some areas above 9,000 feet in elevation.

The snow and gusty winds, up to 40 mph, could produce poor visibilities on Sunday morning, as well as snap tree branches and topple trees.

“The forecast is calling for snow,” Sutherland said Saturday afternoon. “If snow comes in on top of this, it’s not going to be good. I recommend staying inside Mother’s Day and cooking mom a nice dinner.”

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kierannicholson