microburst: Quick Facts

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Photos

Illustration of a thunderstorm microburst showing cold air rapidly descending from a storm cloud, impacting the ground, and spreading outwards with strong winds. An inset diagram details the vortex ring formed at ground level, with wind speeds reaching up to 270 kilometers per hour.

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Topics

Wind shear thunderstorm Wind lightning surge Cloudburst thunder ball lightning red sprites and blue jets fetch eolian sound Windstorm Atmospheric circulation

Key People

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Tetsuya Fujita

Japanese-American meteorologist

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Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree

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