Wednesday was kind of a tranquil day after the lion roared big time on Tuesday. Blustery winds and brief downpours ushered in the month of March. A squall moved through just north of Vancouver from say, Salmon Creek to Battle Ground, with strong winds around 6 p.m.
Wind reports were in the 50-60 mph range. I recorded 57 mph here in Salmon Creek as the squall moved through. I must say it sounded like a freight train with the winds out of the west. Looking at radar and visual photos of the clouds afterwards, it appeared it may have been a microburst.
It was just like a wall of wind, sudden, fast and brief. Microbursts, also called downbursts, consist of a sudden downward gust of wind from a thunderstorm. There was lots of red showing on the radar at the time, indicating extreme instability.
That downward blast of air can reach speeds of 60 mph before hitting the ground and spreading out in all directions. This can cause extensive tree and building damage. The twigs and small limbs were flying by as I watched out the window.
