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.