00:00Think a tornado caused this damage? Think again. There was no tornado. Instead, a series of powerful
00:05microbursts tore through the area, and damage can look almost identical. Snapped trees, roofs ripped
00:09off, even partial building collapses. So what's the difference? A tornado is a rotating column of
00:15air. Its winds spin around a central core, leaving a narrow path of damage. But a microburst is a
00:20type of downburst. Air rushes straight down from a thunderstorm, slams into the ground, and spreads
00:25outward in all directions. So if that area of damaging winds is less than two and a half
00:29miles wide, then it's classified as a microburst. Microbursts can produce wind gusts of 100 miles
00:34per hour or more, and that's why the National Weather Service served as the damage afterwards
00:38to determine whether it was a tornado or a microburst.
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