A Wet Microburst Bullseye (299)

Connor Dennhardt, National Weather Service, Santa Teresa, NM

Tim Brice, National Weather Service

 

Abstract:

 

Wet microbursts are common during the monsoon season in the Southwest U.S. Most microbursts occur in the wide open spaces of the deserts in this part of the country. On occasion, they occur near populated areas. A few of these microbursts have been documented by the public with photos or videos. However, the wet microburst that occured on July 26, 2017 just west of El Paso, TX was a little unusual. An isolated strong thunderstorm developed west of El Paso and produced a severe wet microburst directly over the NWS El Paso Weather Office and nearby WSR-88D doppler radar. This poster will explore this particular microburst, both from inside and outside the storm. The microburst was recorded by several instruments located at the weather office, including the doppler radar. Also, since the storm was near the city of El Paso, numerous pictures and videos were taken of the storm, including series of pictures from an airplane that had just taken off from the El Paso International Airport. Though wet microbursts are not unusual, this particular one occurring near a populated area and directly over a NWS office, provided a unique sampling environment for this very photogenic microburst.