Saturday’s severe thunderstorms caused widespread damage across Western North Carolina and the Upstate, including downed trees and powerlines that left thousands of people without power.
News 13 received responses from many viewers who thought a tornado caused their damage. However, none of the severe thunderstorms on Saturday were tornadic. Many of those storms did produce straight-line winds, which can be as damaging as a tornado.
Tornadoes involve rotating winds within a thunderstorm. Straight-line wind is a term used by meteorologists to describe any wind within a thunderstorm that is non-rotating. This includes unidirectional winds and downbursts, an outward burst of strong winds at or near the surface.
Damage patterns provide some clues to the type of storm. For example, if several trees came down by straight-line winds, they would lie in the same direction in nearly parallel rows. A downburst would produce damage in a radial pattern.
Tornado damage is more scattered. For example, trees falling in different directions indicate the thunderstorm had rotating wind.
Straight-line wind damage is much more common than tornado damage.
STORY & PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC 13 WLOSWas it a tornado? Here's the difference between a twister and straight-line winds | WLOS
