 |
| A possible microburst over Lake Champlain Thursday. Although the picture looks tornadic, it wasn't. However meteorolists confirmed a Thursday tornado in Benson, Vermont. UPDATE |
Thursday's EF-0 tornado packed winds of 85 mph. It was a narrow, but long-tracked tornado by Vermont standards. It appears to have only been 20 yards wide, but had a path length of 12.3 miles. It's possible the tornado lifted, but later touched back down again.
But true to form in this disastrous summer in Vermont, the meteorologists couldn't determine if there were more touchdowns with this tornado. They couldn't access areas to investigate due to flooded roads.
The tell-tale sign of a tornado was that trees and power poles fell in different directions. That indicates there must have been the swirling winds associated with the twister. Nobody was hurt, but several power poles were snapped near the intersection of Routes 30 and 144.
The meteorologists also investigated an area of extensive wind damage in Shoreham. They determined that a microburst, not a tornado caused the destruction. All the trees that fell toppled over toward the northeast, meaning there was no swirl of a tornado involved.
Proving that microbursts can be as destructive as tornadoes, the meteorologists noted up to 75 large trees uprooted, metal torn from roofs and siding torn from houses, and a mile wide area of corn was flattened. Fencing simply disappeared and could not be found.
The National Weather Service estimated top winds in the microburst reached 85 mph.
I'm not sure if the meteorologists are investigating other areas of damage associated with Thursday's storms, but I'll keep you posted.
No comments:
Post a Comment