You have probably seen one, and didn’t even realize it. The South Plains is no stranger to strong storms and one of the many things they can produce are microbursts – sudden and powerful downward currents of air. These can be wet or dry, but no matter what, they can have catastrophic impacts.
“What I want you to see is this is kind of like a water-ladened cloud. This cloud, what is going to happen is, when it starts to descend it’s going to hit the ground and push everything out in all different directions. So watch as Emma pops the balloon and see what happens. You can see, everything just mass destruction. You see that as it descends to the ground, everything gets washed away, and this is an actual threat that can happen in our area.”
Microbursts can happen anytime of the year, but they are most common during the spring and summer months. They can be just as destructive as a tornado, packing wind speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.
Emma Weston from the Lubbock National Weather Service says microbursts are dangerous and damaging because of the strong winds. “The winds can be rapidly changing, they can change very quickly, and they can damage any shelters or out-buildings. Any metal roofs could be damaged in those. So you just want to make sure to keep things secure and be aware of any thunderstorms.”
Microbursts prove to be just as damaging as tornadoes, but the difference lies in the structure of the storm.
“So instead of a squall line of thunderstorms coming in one direction where the wind is all going to be one direction, with a downburst, the winds hit the surface and go out in all different directions. It actually can be very dangerous for airplanes and pilots because of the turbulence it can cause.”
