When it comes to storms, summer has some of the worst. Consider the “microburst.” The name sounds like something you might call a short-lived rainstorm, as in “I thought it was going to pour all day, but luckily it was just a microburst.” But if you’ve ever had the misfortune to live through a microburst, you know there’s nothing lucky about it.

What Is A Microburst?

The term microburst was coined by Ted Fujita, the Japanese-American meteorologist who was instrumental in creating the tornado intensity scale that bears his name.

This type of storm takes its name from the fact that they are very localized and short-lived, affecting an area of 2.5 miles or less and lasting anywhere from a just few seconds to 10-15 minutes, at the most.

What microbursts lack in size and longevity, though, they more than make up for in intensity. A single microburst can create wind speeds up to 100 miles per hour and cause damage as severe as an F1 tornado, downing trees, and damaging structures.

What Causes a Microburst?

Unlike tornadoes, though, microbursts are not cyclonic and they stay in one place. Microbursts are caused by downdrafts within a thunderstorm.  During a storm, air and water droplets become suspended in an updraft high up in the clouds. The stronger the updraft is, the higher the moisture and air are push, and the colder they become. As the air and water cool, they become heavier, until eventually, the storm system is unable to support that heavy core. When that happens, all of that water and air begin to sink, plummeting toward the Earth at a rapid speed.

As the downdraft makes landfall, it spreads outward, leaving behind a path of destruction that radiates out from its initial contact point.  From the ground, microburst damage can be difficult to distinguish from tornado damage. From the air, though, the two kinds of storms each leave behind their own calling card.

For instance, tornadoes leave trees scattered around in haphazard directions, whereas a microburst pushes trees outward in straight lines, diverging from a single point.

Microbursts come on very suddenly and can be hard to predict, making them especially dangerous for aircraft. Several fatal plane crashes having been blamed on microbursts.

3 Stages of Downbursts

Downbursts occur in three stages:

  • Contact stageOutburst stageCushion stage

As the name suggests, the contact stage is when the sinking air makes its initial contact with the ground. The highest winds and most damages occur during this stage.

During the outburst stage, air from the downburst moves outward from the point of impact, curling along the leading edge. Finally, during the cushion stage, the winds at the contact point begin to weaken, while the wind moving outward continues to accelerate.

Eventually, though, friction slows the winds down, and the microburst dies out as quickly as it comes on.

Unfortunately for those on the ground, cleaning up after a microburst takes much longer than the storm itself.

Jaime McLeod is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, growing and eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.

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