20 July 2016

Memphis Airport Hit by Strong Microburst

Posted by Dan Satterfield

Capture

Image from NOAA. The storm that produced the microburst in Memphis is at the extreme SW corner of TN.

Here is a radar image showing the nearly circular outflow boundary, from the NWS in Memphis.

From NWS Memphis. Note the circular outflow boundary of cool air around the microburst.

From NWS Memphis. Note the circular outflow boundary of cool air around the microburst. The density difference of the air (inside and outside the ring) causes a radar reflection.

Here are the obs from the airport at the time of the event.

Capture

NOAA DATA from the ASOS (Automated Surface Observing System) at the Memphis airport. Note the gust to 66 mph at 2:25 PM CDT (1925 GMT)/

Angela Fritz, at Capital Weather Gang, posted an image of an amazing downburst over Phoenix earlier this week here. The damage from these events are often mistaken for tornado damage, and a famous downburst led to the crash of Delta Airlines flight 191 in Dallas, on August 2,1985. This led eventually to a series of terminal doppler weather radars at airports that give warnings of these events, which can be deadly to air travellers.