How fast are downburst winds?

Downburst wind speeds have been known to exceed 100 mph — as strong as a tornado! Also, from a distance downbursts can sometimes look similar to tornadoes, as seen in the image on the left below.

What is a downburst of wind?

A “downburst” is a strong downdraft which causes damaging winds on or near the ground. The term “microburst” describes the size of the downburst. A comparison of a microburst and the larger macroburst shows that both can cause extreme wind.

What does a downburst do?

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.

How strong can the downdrafts in a microburst be?

The downdrafts can be as strong as 6,000 FPM. Horizontal winds near the surface can be as strong as 45 knots resulting in a 90 knot shear (headwind to tailwind change for a traversing aircraft) across the microburst.

Can you get wind speed by ZIP code?

Since a ZIP code (or postal code) is not an exact site location, the wind speed map needs extra information to recognize this is a zip code. Using the SkyCiv Wind Speed Map, users can still enter their sites’ zip code to get wind speeds and pressures.

What kind of wind does a downburst have?

Downbursts are powerful winds that descend from a thunderstorm and spread out quickly once they hit the ground. These winds can easily cause damage similar to that of a EF0 (65-85mph winds) or even EF1 (86-110mph winds) tornado, and are sometimes misinterpreted as tornadoes.

Can a downburst be as strong as a tornado?

Downburst wind speeds have been known to exceed 100 mph — as strong as a tornado! Also, from a distance downbursts can sometimes look similar to tornadoes, as seen in the image on the left below.

How big does a downburst have to be?

The type of downburst we hear about most often is a “microburst,” which means the damaging winds are confined to an area less than two and a half miles across. Otherwise, it’s a “macroburst.” Georgetown, KY. July 18, 2007. How a downburst can look on radar.