Downburst

A downburst is a strong ground-level wind system that emanates from a point source above and blows radially, that is, in straight lines in all directions from the point of contact at ground level. Often producing damaging winds, it may be confused with a tornado, where high-velocity winds circle a central area, and air moves inward and upward; by contrast, in a downburst, winds are directed downward and then outward from the surface landing point.

For the album by Brainstorm, see Downburst (album). For the networking phenomenon, see micro-bursting (networking).

Illustration of a microburst. The air moves in a downward motion until it hits ground level. It then spreads outward in all directions. The wind regime in a microburst is opposite to that of a tornado.
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Downburst seen from the ARMOR Doppler Weather Radar in Huntsville, Alabama in 2012. Note the winds in green going towards the radar, and the winds in red going away from the radar.

Downbursts are created by an area of significantly rain-cooled air that, after reaching ground level, spreads out in all directions producing strong winds. Dry downbursts are associated with thunderstorms with very little rain, while wet downbursts are created by thunderstorms with high amounts of rainfall. Microbursts and macrobursts are downbursts at very small and larger scales, respectively. Another variety, the heat burst, is created by vertical currents on the backside of old outflow boundaries and squall lines where rainfall is lacking. Heat bursts generate significantly higher temperatures due to the lack of rain-cooled air in their formation. Downbursts create vertical wind shear or microbursts, which is dangerous to aviation, especially during landing, due to the wind shear caused by its gust front. Several fatal and historic crashes have been attributed to the phenomenon over the past several decades, and flight crew training goes to great lengths on how to properly recognize and recover from a microburst/wind shear event. They usually last for seconds to minutes.

They go through three stages in their cycle: the downburst, outburst, and cushion stages.[1]

Definition
Downburst damages in a straight line. (Source NOAA)

A downburst is created by a column of sinking air that after hitting ground level, spreads out in all directions and is capable of producing damaging straight-line winds of over 240 km/h (150 mph), often producing damage similar to, but distinguishable from, that caused by tornadoes. This is because the physical properties of a downburst are completely different from those of a tornado. Downburst damage will radiate from a central point as the descending column spreads out when hitting the surface, whereas tornado damage tends towards convergent damage consistent with rotating winds. To differentiate between tornado damage and damage from a downburst, the term straight-line winds is applied to damage from microbursts.

Downbursts are particularly strong downdrafts from thunderstorms. Downbursts in air that is precipitation free or contains virga are known as dry downbursts;[2] those accompanied with precipitation are known as wet downbursts. Most downbursts are less than 4 km (2.5 mi) in extent: these are called microbursts.[3] Downbursts larger than 4 km (2.5 mi) in extent are sometimes called macrobursts.[3] Downbursts can occur over large areas. In the extreme case, a derecho can cover a huge area more than 320 km (200 mi) wide and over 1,600 km (1,000 mi) long, lasting up to 12 hours or more, and is associated with some of the most intense straight-line winds,[4] but the generative process is somewhat different from that of most downbursts.

The term microburst was defined by mesoscale meteorology expert Ted Fujita as affecting an area 4 km (2.5 mi) in diameter or less, distinguishing them as a type of downburst and apart from common wind shear which can encompass greater areas.[5] Fujita also coined the term macroburst for downbursts larger than 4 km (2.5 mi).[6]

A distinction can be made between a wet microburst which consists of precipitation and a dry microburst which typically consists of virga.[2] They generally are formed by precipitation-cooled air rushing to the surface, but they perhaps also could be powered by strong winds aloft being deflected toward the surface by dynamical processes in a thunderstorm (see rear flank downdraft).

Dry microbursts
Dry microburst schematic

When rain falls below the cloud base or is mixed with dry air, it begins to evaporate and this evaporation process cools the air. The cool air descends and accelerates as it approaches the ground. When the cool air approaches the ground, it spreads out in all directions. High winds spread out in this type of pattern showing little or no curvature are known as straight-line winds.[7]

Dry microbursts produced by high based thunderstorms that generate little to no surface rainfall, occur in environments characterized by a thermodynamic profile exhibiting an inverted-V at thermal and moisture profile, as viewed on a Skew-T log-P thermodynamic diagram. Wakimoto (1985) developed a conceptual model (over the High Plains of the United States) of a dry microburst environment that comprised three important variables: mid-level moisture, cloudbase in the mid atmosphere, and low surface relative humidity. These conditions evaporate the moisture from the air as it falls, cooling the air and making it fall faster because it is more dense.

Wet microbursts

Wet microbursts are downbursts accompanied by significant precipitation at the surface.[8] These downbursts rely more on the drag of precipitation for downward acceleration of parcels as well as the negative buoyancy which tend to drive "dry" microbursts. As a result, higher mixing ratios are necessary for these downbursts to form (hence the name "wet" microbursts). Melting of ice, particularly hail, appears to play an important role in downburst formation (Wakimoto and Bringi, 1988), especially in the lowest 1 km (0.62 mi) above ground level (Proctor, 1989). These factors, among others, make forecasting wet microbursts difficult.

Characteristic Dry Microburst Wet Microburst
Location of highest probability within the United States Midwest / West Southeast
Precipitation Little or none Moderate or heavy
Cloud bases As high as 500 mb (hPa) As high as 850 mb (hPa)
Features below cloud base Virga Precipitation shaft
Primary catalyst Evaporative cooling Precipitation loading and evaporative cooling
Environment below cloud base Deep dry layer/low relative humidity/dry adiabatic lapse rate Shallow dry layer/high relative humidity/moist adiabatic lapse rate

Straight-line winds
See also: Derecho

Straight-line winds (also known as plough winds, thundergusts and hurricanes of the prairie) are very strong winds that can produce damage, demonstrating a lack of the rotational damage pattern associated with tornadoes.[9] Straight-line winds are common with the gust front of a thunderstorm or originate with a downburst from a thunderstorm. These events can cause considerable damage, even in the absence of a tornado. The winds can gust to 58 m/s (130 mph)[10] and winds of 26 m/s (58 mph) or more can last for more than twenty minutes.[11] In the United States, such straight-line wind events are most common during the spring when instability is highest and weather fronts routinely cross the country. Straight-line wind events in the form of derechos can take place throughout the eastern half of the U.S.[12]

Straight-line winds may be damaging to marine interests. Small ships, cutters and sailboats are at risk from this meteorological phenomenon.

Formation

The formation of a downburst starts with hail or large raindrops falling through drier air. Hailstones melt and raindrops evaporate, pulling latent heat from surrounding air and cooling it considerably. Cooler air has a higher density than the warmer air around it, so it sinks to the ground. As the cold air hits the ground it spreads out and a mesoscale front can be observed as a gust front. Areas under and immediately adjacent to the downburst are the areas which receive the highest winds and rainfall, if any is present. Also, because the rain-cooled air is descending from the middle troposphere, a significant drop in temperatures is noticed. Due to interaction with the ground, the downburst quickly loses strength as it fans out and forms the distinctive "curl shape" that is commonly seen at the periphery of the microburst (see image). Downbursts usually last only a few minutes and then dissipate, except in the case of squall lines and derecho events. However, despite their short lifespan, microbursts are a serious hazard to aviation and property and can result in substantial damage to the area.

Heat bursts
Main article: Heat burst

A special, and much rarer, kind of downburst is a heat burst, which results from precipitation-evaporated air compressionally heating as it descends from very high altitude, usually on the backside of a dying squall line or outflow boundary.[13] Heat bursts are chiefly a nocturnal occurrence, can produce winds over 160 km/h (100 mph), are characterized by exceptionally dry air, can suddenly raise the surface temperature to 38 °C (100 °F) or more, and sometimes persist for several hours.

Development stages of microbursts

The evolution of microbursts is broken down into three stages: the contact stage, the outburst stage, and the cushion stage.

  • A downburst initially develops as the downdraft begins its descent from the cloud base. The downdraft accelerates, and within minutes reaches the ground (contact stage).
  • During the outburst stage, the wind "curls" as the cold air of the downburst moves away from the point of impact with the ground.
  • During the cushion stage, winds about the curl continue to accelerate, while the winds at the surface slow due to friction.[14]

Physical processes of dry and wet microbursts

Basic physical processes using simplified buoyancy equations

Start by using the vertical momentum equation:

By decomposing the variables into a basic state and a perturbation, defining the basic states, and using the ideal gas law (), then the equation can be written in the form

where B is buoyancy. The virtual temperature correction usually is rather small and to a good approximation; it can be ignored when computing buoyancy. Finally, the effects of precipitation loading on the vertical motion are parametrized by including a term that decreases buoyancy as the liquid water mixing ratio () increases, leading to the final form of the parcel's momentum equation:

The first term is the effect of perturbation pressure gradients on vertical motion. In some storms this term has a large effect on updrafts (Rotunno and Klemp, 1982) but there is not much reason to believe it has much of an impact on downdrafts (at least to a first approximation) and therefore will be ignored.

The second term is the effect of buoyancy on vertical motion. Clearly, in the case of microbursts, one expects to find that B is negative meaning the parcel is cooler than its environment. This cooling typically takes place as a result of phase changes (evaporation, melting, and sublimation). Precipitation particles that are small, but are in great quantity, promote a maximum contribution to cooling and, hence, to creation of negative buoyancy. The major contribution to this process is from evaporation.

The last term is the effect of water loading. Whereas evaporation is promoted by large numbers of small droplets, it only requires a few large drops to contribute substantially to the downward acceleration of air parcels. This term is associated with storms having high precipitation rates. Comparing the effects of water loading to those associated with buoyancy, if a parcel has a liquid water mixing ratio of 1.0 g kg−1, this is roughly equivalent to about 0.3 K of negative buoyancy; the latter is a large (but not extreme) value. Therefore, in general terms, negative buoyancy is typically the major contributor to downdrafts.[15]

Negative vertical motion associated only with buoyancy

Using pure "parcel theory" results in a prediction of the maximum downdraft of

where NAPE is the negative available potential energy,

and where LFS denotes the level of free sink for a descending parcel and SFC denotes the surface. This means that the maximum downward motion is associated with the integrated negative buoyancy. Even a relatively modest negative buoyancy can result in a substantial downdraft if it is maintained over a relatively large depth. A downward speed of 25 m/s (56 mph; 90 km/h) results from the relatively modest NAPE value of 312.5 m2 s−2. To a first approximation, the maximum gust is roughly equal to the maximum downdraft speed.[15]

Danger to aviation
Further information: Wind shear and Cumulonimbus and aviation
A series of photographs of the surface curl soon after a microburst impacted the surface

Downbursts, particularly microbursts, are exceedingly dangerous to aircraft which are taking off or landing due to the strong vertical wind shear caused by these events. A number of fatal crashes have been attributed to downbursts.[16]

The following are some fatal crashes and/or aircraft incidents that have been attributed to microbursts in the vicinity of airports:

A microburst often causes aircraft to crash when they are attempting to land (the above-mentioned BOAC and Pan Am flights are notable exceptions). The microburst is an extremely powerful gust of air that, once hitting the ground, spreads in all directions. As the aircraft is coming in to land, the pilots try to slow the plane to an appropriate speed. When the microburst hits, the pilots will see a large spike in their airspeed, caused by the force of the headwind created by the microburst. A pilot inexperienced with microbursts would try to decrease the speed. The plane would then travel through the microburst, and fly into the tailwind, causing a sudden decrease in the amount of air flowing across the wings. The decrease in airflow over the wings of the aircraft causes a drop in the amount of lift produced. This decrease in lift combined with a strong downward flow of air can cause the thrust required to remain at altitude to exceed what is available, thus causing the aircraft to stall.[16] If the plane is at a low altitude shortly after takeoff or during landing, it will not have sufficient altitude to recover.

The strongest microburst recorded thus far occurred at Andrews Field, Maryland on 1 August 1983, with wind speeds reaching 240.5 km/h (149.5 mi/h).[18]

Danger to buildings
  • On 9 June 2019, a wet microburst in Dallas, Texas killed one and injured several when a crane collapsed on an apartment building.
Strong microburst winds flip a several-ton shipping container up the side of a hill, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
  • On 15 May 2018, an extremely powerful front moved through the northeastern United States, specifically New York and Connecticut, causing significant damage. Nearly a half million people lost power and 5 people were killed. Winds were recorded in excess of 100 MPH and several tornadoes and macrobursts were confirmed by the NWS.
  • On 3 April 2018, a wet microburst struck William P. Hobby Airport, Texas at 11:53 PM, causing an aircraft hangar to partially collapse. Six business jets (four stored in the hangar and two outside) were damaged. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued just seconds before the microburst struck.
  • On 9 August 2016, a wet microburst struck the city of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, an eastern suburb of Cleveland.[19][20] The storm developed very quickly. Thunderstorms developed west of Cleveland at 9 PM, and the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 9:55 PM. The storm had passed over Cuyahoga County by 10:20 PM.[21] Lightning struck 10 times per minute over Cleveland Heights.[21] and 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) winds knocked down hundreds of trees and utility poles.[20][22] More than 45,000 people lost power, with damage so severe that nearly 6,000 homes remained without power two days later.[22]
  • On 22 July 2016, a wet microburst hit portions of Kent and Providence Counties in Rhode Island, causing wind damage in the cities of Cranston, Rhode Island and West Warwick, Rhode Island. Numerous fallen trees were reported, as well as downed powerlines and minimal property damage. Thousands of people were without power for several days, even as long as over 4 days. The storm occurred late at night, and no injuries were reported.
  • On 23 June 2015, a macroburst hit portions of Gloucester and Camden Counties in New Jersey causing widespread damage mostly due to falling trees. Electrical utilities were affected for several days causing protracted traffic signal disruption and closed businesses.
  • On 23 August 2014, a dry microburst hit Mesa, Arizona. It ripped the roof off of half a building and a shed, nearly damaging the surrounding buildings. No serious injuries were reported.
  • On 21 December 2013 a wet microburst hit Brunswick, Ohio. The roof was ripped off of a local business; the debris damaged several houses and cars near the business. Due to the time, between 1 am and 2 am, there were no injuries.
  • On 9 July 2012, a wet microburst hit an area of Spotsylvania County, Virginia near the border of the city of Fredericksburg, causing severe damage to two buildings. One of the buildings was a children's cheerleading center. Two serious injuries were reported.
  • On 1 July 2012, a wet microburst hit DuPage County, Illinois, a county 15 to 30 mi (24 to 48 km) west of Chicago. The microburst left 250,000 Commonwealth Edison users without power. Many homes did not recover power for one week. Several roads were closed due to 200 reported fallen trees.[23]
  • On 22 June 2012, a wet microburst hit the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, causing severe damage to trees, apartment buildings, and local roads. The storm caused an outage in which 40,000 customers lost power.
  • On 8 September 2011, at 5:01 PM, a dry microburst hit Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada causing several aircraft shelters to collapse. Multiple aircraft were damaged and eight people were injured.[24]
  • On 18 August 2011, a wet microburst hit the musical festival Pukkelpop in Hasselt, causing severe localized damage. 5 casualties and at least 140 people were injured. Later research showed that the wind reached speeds of 170 km/h (106 mph).
  • On 22 September 2010, in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago, a wet microburst hit, causing severe localized damage and localized power outages, including fallen-tree impacts into at least four homes. No fatalities were reported.[25]
  • On 16 September 2010, just after 5:30 PM, a wet macroburst with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) hit parts of Central Queens in New York City, causing extensive damage to trees, buildings, and vehicles in an area 8 miles long and 5 miles wide. Approximately 3,000 trees were knocked down by some reports. There was one fatality when a tree fell onto a car on the Grand Central Parkway.[26][27]
  • On 24 June 2010, shortly after 4:30 PM, a wet microburst hit the city of Charlottesville, Virginia. Field reports and damage assessments show that Charlottesville experienced numerous downbursts during the storm, with wind estimates at over 75 mph (121 km/h). In a matter of minutes, trees and downed power lines littered the roadways. A number of houses were hit by trees. Immediately after the storm, up to 60,000 Dominion Power customers in Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County were without power.[28]
  • On 11 June 2010, around 3:00 AM, a wet microburst hit a neighborhood in southwestern Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It caused major damage to four homes, all of which were occupied. No injuries were reported. Roofs were blown off of garages and walls were flattened by the estimated 100 mph (160 km/h) winds. The cost of repairs was thought to be $500,000 or more.[29]
  • On 2 May 2009, the lightweight steel and mesh building in Irving, Texas used for practice by the Dallas Cowboys football team was flattened by a microburst, according to the National Weather Service.[30]
  • On 12 March 2006, a microburst hit Lawrence, Kansas. 60 percent of the University of Kansas campus buildings sustained some form of damage from the storm. Preliminary estimates put the cost of repairs at between $6 million and $7 million.[31]
  • On 13 May 1989, a microburst with winds over 95 mph hit Fort Hood, Texas. Over 200 U.S. Army helicopters were damaged. The storm damaged at least 20 percent of the fort's buildings, forcing 25 military families from their quarters. In a preliminary damage estimate, the Army said repairs to almost 200 helicopters would cost $585 million and repairs to buildings and other facilities about $15 million.[32]
  • On 4 July 1977, the "Independence Day Derecho of 1977" formed over west-central Minnesota. As the derecho moved east-southeast, it became very intense over central Minnesota around midday. From that time through the afternoon the system produced winds of 80 to more than 100 mph, with areas of extreme damage from central Minnesota into northern Wisconsin. The derecho continued rapidly southeast before finally weakening over northern Ohio.

See also

References
  1. "What is a Microburst?". National Weather Service. n.d. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  2. Fernando Caracena, Ronald L. Holle, and Charles A. Doswell III. Microbursts: A Handbook for Visual Identification. Retrieved on 9 July 2008.
  3. Glossary of Meteorology. Macroburst. Retrieved on 30 July 2008.
  4. Peter S. Parke and Norvan J. Larson.Boundary Waters Windstorm. Retrieved on 30 July 2008.
  5. Glossary of Meteorology. Microburst. Archived 2008-12-12 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-07-30.
  6. Glossary of Meteorology. Macroburst. Retrieved on 2008-07-30.
  7. Glossary of Meteorology. Straight-line wind. Archived 2008-04-15 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-08-01.
    • Fujita, T.T. (1985). "The Downburst, microburst and macroburst". SMRP Research Paper 210, 122 pp.
  9. Glossary of Meteorology. Straight-line wind. Archived 15 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 1 August 2008.
  10. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#strength
  11. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jun291998page.htm
  12. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#climatology
  13. "Oklahoma "heat burst" sends temperatures soaring". USA Today|1999-07-08. 8 July 1999. Archived from the original on 25 December 1996. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
  14. University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign. Microbursts. Retrieved on 2008-08-04.
  15. Charles A. Doswell III. Extreme Convective Windstorms: Current Understanding and Research. Retrieved on 2008-08-04.
  16. NASA Langley Air Force Base. Making the Skies Safer From Windshear. Archived 2010-03-29 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
  17. Aviation Safety Network. Damage Report. Retrieved on 2008-08-01.
  18. Glenday, Craig (2013). Guinness Book of World Records 2014. The Jim Pattinson Group. pp. 20. ISBN 978-1-908843-15-9.
  19. Roberts, Samantha (10 August 2016). "What happened in Cleveland Heights Tuesday night?". KLTV. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  20. Steer, Jen; Wright, Matt (10 August 2016). "Damage in Cleveland Heights caused by microburst". Fox8.com. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  21. Reardon, Kelly (10 August 2016). "Wind gusts reached 58 mph, lightning struck 10 times a minute in Tuesday's storms". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  22. Higgs, Robert (11 August 2016). "About 4,000 customers, mostly in Cleveland Heights, still without power from Tuesday's storms". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  23. Evbouma, Andrei (12 July 2012). "Storm Knocks Out Power to 206,000 in Chicago Area". Chicago Sun-Times.
  24. Gorman, Tom. "8 injured at Nellis AFB when aircraft shelters collapse in windstorm – Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011 | 9 p.m." Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  25. "Microbursts reported in Hegewisch, Wheeling". Chicago Breaking News. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  26. "New York News, Local Video, Traffic, Weather, NY City Schools and Photos – Homepage – NY Daily News". Daily News. New York.
  27. "Power Restored to Tornado Slammed Residents: Officials". NBC New York. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) and http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=12705577
  29. Brian Kushida (11 June 2010). "Strong Winds Rip Through SF Neighborhood – News for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa". Keloland.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  30. Gasper, Christopher L. (6 May 2009). "Their view on matter: Patriots checking practice facility". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  31. "One year after microburst, recovery progresses" KU.edu. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  32. "Storm Wrecks New Copters". The New York Times. 20 May 1989. Retrieved 2 June 2020.

Bibliography
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