Posted on 02/09/2018 4:42:33 PM PST by BenLurkin
What in the world could possibly blow down more than 100 trees in the middle of a national park when no other major weather event was recorded in the area?
That's a good question, and one that could be explained either simply — it was a downdraft wind — or through a Sherlock Holmes-style breakdown of events, courtesy local weather guru Cliff Mass.
To wit: In the wee morning hours of Jan. 27, 2018, some kind of significant wind event managed to blow down 110 trees across a large swath of forest on the north shore of Lake Quinault, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
Such wind was not recorded at nearby weather stations, nor did radar records from the time show anything more than some high and low pressure systems meeting, according to Mass.
The explanation espoused by The Daily World was that the wind came from a "microburst," a rare wind event that creates a downward wind in a localized area.
But a National Weather Service meteorologist told Mass it would've taken winds of 70 to 80 mph to snap trees off in the way it happened that night, so Mass dismissed that possibility.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.com ...
Not rare either. Have been the cause of numerous plane crashes.
straight line wind called a Direcho
Was backpacking in the Sierra at around 8000 feet, south of Yosemite years back.
We had made camp near a lake and were fishing when a BIG thunderhead came overhead.
Within 5 minutes it went from sunny and pleasant to a torrential rain & wind that washed away our camp near the base of a granite hillside.
Lighting strikes at that altitude are deafening.
A few trees were blown over nearby and we never knew because the wind was deafening.
But it was aliens.
(I don't have the pic).
Electronic Warfare Range
I was thinking it was due to strong winds combined with overly saturated soil. Roots aren’t much help holding a tree in place when the deep soil turns to mud. All it takes is a good burst of wind, and “TIMBER”!
Exactly. Microburst could easily down trees as vertical speeds of 8000 fpm have been noted. That is I believe 100 mph or so. Yes it was a localized event, and a powerful natural act.
That area has experienced hurricane force winds approaching 200mph
The trees there are among the worlds largest. I’ve stayed at the lodge several times, it’s very impressive
There were big gusts of wind at the time mentioned. In fact I got a branch into my window and cracked it. Sounded like a bowling ball hit my car.
My window got smashed on the 29th. This was a stormy period of time with very powerful gusts. The Seattle Times is making this out to be some freak wind. It wasn’t.
North Korea missile re-entry low altitude burst TNT warhead test detonation.
Nothing “mysterious” about a microburst in the mountains.
They happen all the time.
We were in one in central Washington during a large family reunion in ‘85.
No thunderstorms around at the time.
Tunguska 1908.
(hit ‘post’ too soon)
My brother and I were in another in Rock Creek, MT this past July.
Trees on cars, houses, and blocked roads.
We had a microburst two years ago this past July. Blew like a banshee from one direction for a minute or so then sudden quiet for several seconds then WHAM! it hit from the opposite direction.
Took out a 100 year old twin oak and wrecked the garden. Had tomatoes and corn blown flat in all different directions on the ground.
What’s he saying? I can’t quite make it out.
Paul Bunyan sneezed....
The Olympic Mountains. Strange things happen there which are not always easily explain or explained at all.
One evening around 1973, I was by the water visiting with an old fellow on the east side of Hood Canal. We were talking about the day and then with out warning something happened. We could see directly across the water (to the west) and the foothills up into the mountains. The sky was clear with a high overcast, but the tops of the mountains were clearly visible in silhouette. We were both facing west toward the mountains as we spoke.
I believe, though my memory of names is somewhat hazy without looking at a map, the highest peak we could see was Mt. Jupiter.
Then, like the sun came out, the whole of the mountain was lit clear as day. We could see the snow on the peak, the trees along the foot hills leading to the mountain.
Seemingly someone had turned on some gigantic searchlight illuminating just that mountain, but no where else. This lasted for several minutes then poof it was pitch dark again.
Years later something else happened, again at night which was never explained.
Supersized crop circles.
Did they make any sound?
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