Summer storms in the Southeast United States may be brutal, even if you’re not near the coast. Microbursts, which are small but intense downdrafts within thunderstorms, are widespread in the South during summer storms and can act similarly to spontaneous mini-hurricanes.
During a storm on July 18th, residents of Madison, Alabama, witnessed the fury of a microburst firsthand. An eyewitness video published on @weatherchannel showed the rapid and powerful storm knocking down trees one by one!
@weatherchannel This video gets crazier the longer you watch it. #TheWeatherChannel #fyp #weathertok #weather #Alabama #wind #backyard #weatherchannel
That is really scary! In just a few minutes, the strong microburst storm did as much damage to those tall trees as a hurricane would have. The strong downdrafts knocked down tall tree after tall tree as easily as if they were weak twigs. Rick Walker, who lives in Madison, filmed the whole thing and watched in fear from his backyard as the storm did its damage. He was lucky that none of the trees that fell hit his house.
Even though Walker and his family were safe during the storm, a microburst is still dangerous and shouldn’t be ignored. Some people don’t think they are as dangerous as a hurricane or a more clearly defined tornado because they don’t last long and aren’t very big (they have to be 2.5 miles or less in diameter by definition). But in that tiny space of room and time, as this video shows, they can do a lot of damage.
During this storm, the winds reached up to 60 miles per hour, which caused an EF0 tornado in Madison County. It could have gone even higher, though. In microburst storms, wind speeds can sometimes reach 100 mph, and in the worst cases, they can reach 150 mph. That’s more than enough power to do a lot of damage to homes and put the lives of anyone outside in danger.
If you are outside when a microburst hits, you should find cover as soon as possible. Luckily, microbursts don’t last long and usually go away after a few minutes. Just don’t go outside during those few minutes!
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