'Atomic cloud' - extremely rare and dangerous weather phenomenon

" Atomic cloud " with the scientific name Microburst is an extremely rare weather phenomenon that often occurs during a very stormy but also very impressive. From a distance we have the feeling that this is an atomic bomb explosion or the sky is pouring water into the earth.

Microburst image taken by Bruce Haffner.

Fortunately, since 1980 there has not been any test of any nuclear bomb in the atmosphere. The photo of a giant mushroom cloud was taken by Bruce Haffner , a reporter and a helicopter pilot.

There are three stages of Microburst formation.

The first stage is the contact phase , at which point the ventilation velocity increases to the maximum after just a few minutes and plunges to the ground vertically at maximum speed.

The second stage is the boom , at this stage the wind is constantly swirling into streams, hitting the ground with lightning speed and dispersing everywhere.

The final stage is called the buffering phase , at which point the upper vortex continues to accelerate, however when it hits the ground they carry a huge amount of water. Over time, wind speed slows down.

The stage of forming a microburst

The generated winds can have speeds up to 270 km / hr and can knock down even the most sturdy old trees. Microburst can also be accompanied by rain that is often called a " rain bomb ", but this is a relatively rare phenomenon.

The terrible power of this storm can't stop people from being frightened. Historically there have been 9 cases of reported fatal accidents or accidents when the plane flew into the microburst airspace and crashed into the ground with tremendous force. However, you do not need to worry too much about flying. Not to mention that the rate you go to plane with this extremely rare phenomenon is very low, nowadays with modern technology and trained pilots have enough skills to get rid of microburst before everything becomes extremely bad.

On the ground, Microburst's destructive power is much more terrible than hail or acid rain. This is what happened in Oklahoma in 2011: