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'Microburst' hits Prince Georges county Friday, here's how it happened

The high winds struck just after 5 p.m. Friday

A microburst caused estimated 70 mph winds in the Suitland-Temple Hill community of Prince Georges county Friday evening. In an instant, residents report hearing loud winds like a freight train -- and they later discovered trees and branches down everywhere throughout the neighborhood.

What is a Microburst?

A microburst is a rain-cooled small column of sinking air within a thunderstorm. The 'micro' at the start of the name means small. In fact, most microbursts are only 2 miles in diameter. When the sinking air reaches the ground, it rushes outwards quickly, downing trees and power lines and picking up debris. 

The winds in a microburst can be just as strong as the winds in a weak tornado or hurricane. They can reach up to 110 miles per hour.

Credit: National Weather Service


Here's what it looked like on radar
On the VELOCITY mode of radar, we're able to see if the winds are going towards or away from radar. In the image below, the radar is south of the image in Brandywine, MD. The green represents winds going towards the radar. The red represents winds going away from the radar. This pattern of green & red shows a divergence in the winds -- which indicates a microburst or downburst of wind.

Credit: WUSA

Luckily, no injuries were reported. But there is a lot of damage left after the intense wind event took place.

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