Micro burst ruins Blue Grass Festival

[azsnowman]

Just found out this morning that a MAJOR micro burst blew into the Bluegrass Festival this past weekend here in Pinetop, a few injuries were reported, wind gusts associated with this micro burst were estimated to be over 80 MPH :o The wind was so fierce, it even blew the STAGE OVER! Every single tent was severly damaged, reports also claim 2 overhead campers on pickups were tipped over..........I saw the cloud over the festival sight and heard the sirens, didn't give it much thought!

Dennis

[nystate]

Yikes! We had a microburst here a few years ago, destroyed a few houses but no one was really hurt. The biggest threat they pose is to aviation, they can smack an airliner right into the ground when it is flying low enough (takeoff and landing) which is what happened to a Delta L1011 (very large plane) landing at Dallas years ago...

as a matter of fact, here is the accident report-

The aircraft crashed short of the runway while attempting to land on runway 17L at DFW. Descending through 600 feet, the aircraft encountered severe microburst induced windshear and was pushed toward the ground. Despite the application of maximum power by the crew, the aircraft touched down in a field, careened across a busy highway snapping off light posts, and struck a car with its no.1 engine, killing the occupant. The aircraft then entered the airport property with a groundspeed of 212 knots and impacted two 4 million gallon water towers. The NTSB cited known flight into severe weather conditions for causing the accident.

Microbursts have destroyed at least 8 airliners and killed 598 people from these crashes alone...good thing is that you don't have to worry about it happening again, technology has made it safer to fly now...

[Colin]

Man...sounds bad...glad there were no fatalities or anything! :o

[breeze]

Microbursts can be very dangerous, and, they are
most common in the southwestern U.S. They can
leave areas in forests similar to crop circles, except
the trees are all laying outward!

[wx247]

I love bluegrass ( in fact I play in a bluegrass band), but that is not important. What is important is that in a situation like a microburst there is a potential for major injuries and casualties at any type of outdoor activities.

In particular, most travel and stay on the grounds in an RV, which are succeptible to the high winds. I have seen my fair share of awnings ripped from campers due to windy conditions without a storm. I can only imagine the pictures from a microburst. :o