National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Binghamton, NY

Weather Forecast Office

How the NWS determines Wind Damage and Tornadoes

Weather.gov > Binghamton, NY > How the NWS determines Wind Damage and Tornadoes

What do we do on these storm surveys?

How we Determine a Microburst?

We use a compass, lined up with the trunk of an uprooted tree to determine the wind direction.

  • The pattern of damage determines if it was a tornado. NOT how much damage was caused.
  • Microburst damage often looks laid or flattened out. Larger uprooted trees point in the same direction, or a fan shaped dirvergent pattern.
  • Microburst can have wind speeds as high as 100 mph.
  • We conduct surverys to find out exactly what happened. This helps us to improve our warnings for the future. This is also important for historical reference.
  • We use a compass, lined up with the trunk of an uprooted tree to determine the wind direction.

 

Large uprooted trees flatten in a similar direction.

 

How do we Determine a Tornado?

  • The pattern of damage determines if it was a tornado. NOT how much damage was caused.
  • Tornado damage often has a chaotic appearance, with larger uprooted trees often crossing each other.
  • We often look at larger uproots of trees to get a true idea of where the wind was blowing from. Smaller branches/snapped trees are not as helpful, as they may fail based on the tree itself and now where the wind was coming from.
  • Large uprooted trees in a convergent pattern, crossing each other.
  • Especially in our area, tornadoes AND microbursts can cause the same amount of damage.
  • We conduct surverys to find out exactly what happened. This helps us to improve our warnings for the future. This is also important for historical reference.

 

Large uprooted trees in a convergent pattern, crossing each other.

 

Additional Information:

 

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