The top three images show what a microburst looks like. Dust and dirt caught in the wind show off the shape of the microburst. The bottom image shows a tree that was damaged by the winds. This microburst happened in Kansas on March 12, 2006.
Courtesy of NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library, National Weather Service Forecast Office of Topeka, KS/ KHP
Related links:
Wind
Weather
Type of Wind: Microburst
Microbursts are dangerous winds created by thunderstorms. A microburst hits the ground and spreads horizontally with a burst of wind. The strong wind is formed by cooling from the evaporation of rain droplets in the cloud. This cooling quickly rushes out of the clouds toward warmer temperatures near the ground.
A microburst produces straight-line winds. These wind speeds are very fast. They can be as fast as the winds of small tornadoes. But tornadoes and microbursts are quite different. A tornado causes the winds to come into the storm, but a microburst causes the wind to leave the storm. A microburst lasts for about 5-15 minutes.
A microburst can spread 2.5 miles (4 km) or less. The damage from a microburst can look like that of a tornado. Blown down trees and heavy damage to buildings are examples of the damage from a microburst.
Microbursts have been a major cause of airline accidents. On August 2, 1985, a tragic plane accident happened when a plane flew into a microburst at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport in Texas. To find microbursts and help airplanes avoid them, airports use Doppler radar and LLWSAS (Low Level Wind Shear Alert System).
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
The
Fall 2009 issue of The Earth Scientist, which includes articles on student research into building design for earthquakes and a classroom lab on the composition of the Earth’s ancient atmosphere, is available in our
online store.
You might also be interested in:
Wind is moving air. Warm air rises, and cool air comes in to take its place. This movement creates the winds around the globe. Winds move at different speeds and have different names based on their speed.
...more
Thunderstorms are one of the most exciting and dangerous types of weather. Over 40,000 thunderstorms happen around the world each day. Thunderstorms form when very warm, moist air rises into cold air.
...more
Have you ever left a glass of water out for a long time? Did you notice that the water disappears after a few days? That's because it evaporated! Evaporation is when water passes from a liquid to a gas.
...more
Rainbows appear in the sky when there is bright sunlight and rain. Sunlight is known as visible or white light and is actually a mixture of colors. The sun's rays pass through millions of raindrops. A
...more
It takes the Earth one year to travel around the sun one time. During this year, there are four seasons: summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Each season depends on the amount of sunlight reaching the
...more
Scientists sometimes travel in airplanes that carry weather instruments in order to gather data about the atmosphere. These research aircraft bring air from the outside into the plane so scientists can
...more
An anemometer is a weather instrument used to measure the wind (it can also be called a wind gauge). These instruments can be used in a backyard weather station or on a well-equipped scientific research
...more
