Downburst aftermath?
From a distance I'd assumed that these trees had been cut down by human action, for a firebreak or range improvement or whatever. However, they're not cut but ripped out of the ground, root crown and all, and are also lying more or less parallel. It looks like a violent wind ripped them up. Judging by the size of the trees that have grown up since, it was a few decades back. The trees all appear to be piñon pines, btw.
You _wouldn't_ have wanted to be here when this happened! Near Erastra Spring, Pine Nut Range, Nevada, USA.
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Taken on Tuesday November 11, 2014
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Posted on Thursday November 20, 2014
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4 comments
William Sutherland said:
Admired in:
www.ipernity.com/group/tolerance
Pam J said:
Last one that was close was 3 years ago.. and was over about a square mile... happened the night before we moved here.... we were here setting stuff up and luckily had bought the Boys with us... go back to find power poles snapped and trees snapped and half the sides of the apartment vanished and dumped 100 yds away.
Was an eventful night.
But them we live in Tornado land....and downblasts are just a taste.
Admired in ~ I ♥ Nature
slgwv said:
I looked up downbursts on the Nat'l Weather Service site, and it turns out we have more favorable conditions here for them than I'd thought. Low humidity in the lower atmosphere can strengthen the downdraft, because the evaporating rain cools the air--and makes it fall faster! And, altho they can cause damage as bad as tornadoes, they're a completely different phenomenon, so I updated the caption accordingly. One thing that _does_ fit with this being the aftermath of a downburst is that the trees are all lying parallel. Tornado damage tends to occur in arcs or spirals, because of the circular winds.
slgwv said: