Welcome back!
Today we're going to discuss microbursts, they're kind of the opposite of a tornado. Instead of air being pulled through a small rotating tube into a warm thunderstorm updraft, a microburst is a pocket of cool air shooting down from a thunderstorm and expanding when hitting the ground.
A dry microburst occurs when the air hitting the ground from a storm doesn't contain any moisture, they are most noticable when they kick up debris, here's a photo I took in Castle Rock, Colorado:
I did call in to report. Last I had heard, National Weather Service Denver/Boulder was investigating a microburst, I'm not exactly sure of what damage, if any, was caused.
A wet microburst is when moisture reaches the ground with the microburst, I actually took this picture when I was working at Pizza Hut in Peyton, Colorado:
Notice the rain going sideways at ground level, and how it originates on the top left corner of the photo.
Microbursts are fairly common here in Colorado, if you're under a burst of rain that seems to be forced to the ground faster than gravity can take it, you may be under a microburst. Not all microbursts are violent in nature, so odds are you'll encounter at least a small one at some point in time if you experience enough thunderstorms. That said, microbursts have had the stength of a strong tornado (EF2/3). Just stay aware during a thunderstorm, it will keep you safe and allow you to truly enjoy their power and beauty more!
My next topic of discussion will be how a dust devil can turn into a tornado, until then stay weather aware!
Hey all!
Today I wanted to talk about gustnadoes, as they're quite underrated; sometimes they reach tornado strength, though they're much more difficult to forecast.
Let me tell you about my first encounter with a gustnado;
I was driving in my first car when the typical afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. At a stop light I felt the wind go from calm to the car pulling to the right. Sure enough, to my right there was a debris cloud, reminise of a dust devil churning its way across the road right next to me... So how do I know that was a gustnado?
Truth be told you can't always tell, in fact, arguably a landspout, a strong dust devil, and a gustnado are virtually indistinguishable at times. However, given the relative location of the ground rotation in comparision to incoming storms, and no confirmation of cloud-based rotation, I had concluded this was the first gustnado I had seen.
Figure 1: A photo I took of a dust devil near Canon City, notice there are no clouds in the immediate area.
Figure 2: A gustnado I photographed near Deer Trail, Colorado. Notice: there is no discernable connection to the cloud base.
Figure 3: A gustnado my chase partner photographed along I-70. This was the second debris cloud we saw on this chase...
Figure 4: A photo I took of a supercell tornado roping out near Eads, Colorado. I felt this photo showed an obvious connection between cloud and ground.
Figure 5: A photo I took of a cycling tornadic supercell near the town of Fort Morgan, notice the cloud reaching from the top towards the ground
What makes this even more confusing is that dust devils and gustnadoes can both turn into tornadoes; should the circulation connect to a cloud base it is now a tornado. But what about a tornado debris signature? If said gustnado is strong enough to loft debris, and if embedded within the RfD (rear flank downdraft), could, at least in theory, send a debris signature as well.
A good example of a strong gustnado was at the Indianna State Fair grounds, here are two videos taken by two separate attendees of the concert that was hit head on:
Note in the first video you hear someone ask "Mark is that a tornado?" If you watch, when the stage gets hit, the dust is rotating, and as it passes the stage you will notice the flag pole pulling into the debris cloud from the opposite direction as it passes.
I got too close during the storm in figure two. There were numerious splitting supercells on the high plains, and by the time I knew I was too close it was already too late;
The gustnado was near a hail core with stones varying from golfball to softball size, as the gustnado approached my vehicle (even touching the highway girders next to me) I made an attempt to flee through the hail core. Hail smashed my car, and after the gustnado dissipated I drove towards where I has seen it, and drops of mud rained on my car. I kept going and ended up stuck in the mud outside of Akron, Colorado. Thankfully, the storm had passed me already, so I snapped photos:
Because I got impatient and went back West, I had missed all the tornadoes that day, including the multivortex tornado near Wiggins, Colorado, which I had forecast happening within 20 miles the day before. A tough lesson learned, but a lesson nonetheless, and I came out alive. I learned to trust my initial forecasts a little more, and to be more patient, less emotional, and more observant of changing weather conditions and the overall pattern.
Next time we'll talk about microbursts, thanks for reading, stay weather aware everyone!
Hi all,
Welcome to my weather blog! I'm Stefan Klein, a Skywarn spotter for the National Weather Service in Pueblo,Colorado. I like to study weather first hand, by applying forecasts, experiencing it, and documenting it. My favorite phenomenon is certainly supercell thunderstorms, but I do enjoy all manner of atmospheric events. I've considered a blog for a little bit now, and I decided a good day to start it is today; one year after the record-breaking wind event in Colorado Springs. The airport recorded a wind gust of 80mph, their highest ever, and a gust of 101mph was recorded on the Southwest side of town. I was living downtown when this happened, here are a few of the photogrpahs I took:
This storm caused over $1.5 million in damages, and killed two people. It ranks amongst the deadliest natural disasters in the area's history, with as many fatalities as the Black Forest fire, and the Waldo Canyon Fire. Anyone who lived here and was here that day certainly remembers!
I plan on making my next post about gustnadoes, until then stay weather wary!
