Storm types#wind#downdraft
Microburst
At a glance
A concentrated blast of wind from a collapsing thunderstorm — small in area but capable of aviation-grade damage on the ground.
Deep dive
Microbursts are downbursts <4 km across. Two flavours:
- Wet microburst — rain-loaded downdraft under a high-CAPE pulse storm.
- Dry microburst — evaporatively cooled air collapses through a deep dry layer (inverted-V sounding); the surface sees the wind without rain.
Damage pattern is radial and divergent, distinguishing it from tornado damage (convergent). Aviation risk is severe: microbursts crashed multiple airliners in the 1970s–80s before Doppler wind-shear systems were installed at US airports.