Some weather events are fascinating. Last night, there were several reports of “heat bursts” in Oklahoma. Near thunderstorms, downdrafts of air make it to the ground, sometimes causing wind damage. As air descends in the atmosphere, the pressure on it increases, causing it to warm, just like when you fill a tire. However, these downdrafts, especially around here, are usually filled with rain, which evaporates on the way down and cools the air.
But, when the storms form in an environment where the air near or above the surface is very dry, there may not be enough moisture to offset the warming, and the downdrafts may reach the ground at high temperatures. This is known as a heat burst.
Check out the observations from Chickasha, Oklahoma this morning.
The wind gusted near 50 mph at 230 am, and the temperature rose to 93 degrees just after 330 am! That might be a surprise to you if you were out fishing at night, and it suddenly warmed up 15 degrees and the wind blew 50 mph. Maybe a little scary. But, it’s just a very dry downdraft of air.
