NWS: Straight line winds of 110mph did damage in Todd County

A National Weather Service survey team was in Todd County yesterday and determined straight-line winds did the damage there.

More specifically, the team called it a “microburst” featuring winds of 110 miles per hour. A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds, almost always associated with a very severe thunderstorm.

The report says the storm happened approximately at 2am and that it began two miles northwest of Clifty and ended one mile northeast of Penrod in Muhlenberg County. The team said the beginning point likely extends further southwestward and additional surveying will be needed.

The average width of the microburst was one third of a mile and the path length was 14 miles. There was damage to hundreds and possibly thousands of trees—many large ones uprooted. Numerous barns were leveled or damaged in addition to several homes. No one was injured or killed by the microburst.

A survey team will also make a determination of what kind of storm did the damage in Christian County.

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01/31/2013/am