A “freakish” microburst on the south side of Poplar Bluff caused structural damage and power outages on Sunday evening.
Wind damage was reported at Home Depot on South Westwood Boulevard and LeGrand Feed on Hudson Drive. The microburst ripped the roof from a storage shed at LeGrand and appeared to capsize two outbuildings at Home Depot. No injuries have been reported.
Ozark Border Electric Cooperative’s website reported over 1,400 outages in and around the area at the time. Data available Monday showed those outages have been resolved.
Initial rumors said the damaged was caused by a tornado, but Butler County EMA Director Robbie Myers believed a microburst was the culprit.
“Those happen when weather cells are collapsing,” he explained.
Meteorologist Craig Meador concurred, and said they are easily identified.
“For lack of a better description, it looks like you unzipped a cloud and everything fell straight down,” he said.
Microbursts are sudden, violent downdrafts from thunderstorms, sometimes carrying rain or hail in addition to wind. The strongest winds can reach 100 mph, equivalent to an EF-1 tornado, according to the National Weather Service.
Meador and Myers believed the type of damage on Sunday was consistent with 60 mph winds.
What made this downdraft “freakish” to Meador was how localized it was, which could be due to the bowl-shaped geography of the impact zone.
“It just goes to show how weather can be unpredictable,” he said.