That Weird, Huge Wind Storm That Hit Easthampton,Mass. This Morning Was A Microburst

Aerial view of microburst damage
near Easthampton, Mass. Photo by Patrick Brough.  

Some incredible photos are coming out of the Easthampton/Mount Tom area of western Massachusetts of a huge swath of forest blown down completely by a wind storm.

A lot of people thought it was a tornado, but the National Weather Service officer in Taunton, Mass., went out to the site for a look-see, and determined the storm was a microburst. 

An especially powerful one.

The National Weather Service meteorologists estimated wind speeds in the microburst of 100 mph or so. It covered an area a quarter mile wide and a mile long. That's more or less about the typical size of a damage area from a microburst.

A microburst is a nasty downdraft from a thunderstorm. The air blasts down toward the ground, and when it hits the ground, causes a big wind gust. Microbursts only last five minutes or less, but as anybody in Easthampton, Mass. can tell you, they cause a lot of damage.

That the wind blew at 100 mph and knocked down a whole forest on Mount Tom proves my point, once again, that the term "microburst" might sound wimpy, but microbursts can be just as dangerous as tornadoes.

Trees in a yard, Easthampton, Mass. toppled
by Wednesday morning's microburst.  

I also see a stroke of luck in some of the photos. It looks like the strongest winds with the Mt. Tom/Easthampton microburst hit on a mountain slope at around 4:45 a.m. today,  and the worst of the winds just missed some nearby populated neighborhoods.

No serious injuries were reported, but CBS 3 in Springfield, Mass. is reporting that the storm did manage to damage several homes and cars, two people were trapped in a car when wires fell around them, and a state of emergency has been declared in Easthampton.

A pretty dynamic storm system was passing through New England when the Easthampton microburst occurred. Usually, thunderstorms are their strongest in the late afternoon, not before dawn like in this case. But sometimes, the atmosphere is so primed for bad thunderstorms that they happen at a time of day that isn't so typical.

Storm damage from wind was reported elsewhere in western Massachusetts, and in central and northern New Hampshire. Center Harbor, NH reported a wind gust of 77 mph.

The storm that caused the rough weather in New England is now long gone, so don't expect any more microbursts for awhile.