Post by grrraaahhh on Jun 10, 2011 19:17:10 GMT -9
Wichita, Kan., residents are still reeling from a bizarre weather system that spiked temperatures 20 degrees in a matter of minutes in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Heat bursts are a very rare phenomenon, meteorologists told The Wichita Eagle.
They're caused by storms "collapsing" onto the strong winds that are keeping them up. When rain falls onto very dry air, the air begins to drop, and as the air mass drops it gets hotter. When the air hits the ground it rapidly spreads out, causing gusting winds.
"You have to have perfect conditions ... in order to get these things," National Weather Service meteorologist Chance Hayes told the paper.
news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110610/us_yblog_thelookout/after-midnight-heat-burst-surprises-kansans