Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Downburst & Dolly

Driving home Tuesday evening I did see the downburst that hit Sedgwick county. It was impressive, but I wasn't close enough to really get a good picture of it (the picture posted comes from a viewer in North Newton). They are often hard to distinguish because they are usually surrounded in rainfall, but this one was clearly visible. Downburst winds are the strong winds that descend from a collapsing thunderstorm and they can produce winds up to 100 mph, which sometimes does more damage than a weak tornado.

Someone posted a comment on the blog asking about Hurricane Dolly and whether or not she will bring some rainfall to Kansas. At this point, I would say no, because Dolly is moving to the west and most of the moisture will fall in the mountainous regions of Mexico. Tropical storms and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico can bring significant moisture to Kansas, but in this case, the upper level winds are not favorable to drag the moisture this way. I know those of you in western Kansas really need rainfall. It might be several days before we get anything substantial into that area of the state. Thank goodness we have not had too much in the way of wind because 100 degree heat AND wind would really have us in a bad situation.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was driving right under the downburst. It seemed like a huge hand was pushing my car against the road.
I went from 70 mph to almost a complete stop. It was freaky!

-Rita

Anonymous said...

Wow Rita...that is freaky!! Well, I have to admit that I didn't even know about the downburst until I got onto the KWCH website just now. I unfortunately have had things going on that I haven't been able to catch any news since Monday!
That is a cool picture sent by the Newton viewer!

Ty said...

I agree as well, that is a great shot of the downburst, props to the photographer. Anyone attending "Final Friday Art Crawl" tomorrow evening (7/25)? I'll be at Douglas Photographic Imaging (DPI) for the announcement of the 2008 Riverfest Photography Contest Winners.

Sooo anyone getting geared up for the Kansas State Fair? I know I'm excited to take Caden for his first state fair! He really is taking in the world around him now that he is 21 weeks old! I can't believe how fast he is growing as well how fast the summer is going! It has definately been getting warmer, though I'll take the heat over the cold ANYDAY! Well off to get a tan! (LOL...not really, I'm at work, just wishful thinking)

Take care everyone and Ross keep up the great blogging! Always wonderful to read your blogs!

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